Design - Considerations & Techniques
Web Design should be as individual as you are. By the same token, attention should always be paid
to the same basic issues. Masikati Web Design has created web sites and online stores for clients in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns, Perth, Oregon,
and New Zealand.
Design Considerations
Performance
People will give up on your web site if it is too slow. A number of factors are involved in
making your site "perform".
- Graphics - if they are too large, or if there are too many on the one page, it will take a long time
to load. Would your page still be useful without the graphics? Most sites should be useful to the visually-impaired
and Blind. Graphics should enhance the content without distracting from the true purpose of the page.
- Entry Pages - How useful are they? Fancy entry pages seem to be quite in vogue but if they
don't actually convey an important message or allow instant access to the real content of the site
why have them? Branding and imagery is important, but it's not the main purpose of your web site!
If an Entry Page is an integral part of your web site, make sure it allows fast access to the real business
purpose of your site.
- Navigation - It is essential that your visitors can find their way around the site easily - intuitively.
Are the navigation links easy to read? Is it obvious what you will find once you follow a link? Is it easy to tell
where you are in the web site from the page you are on? Is there a site search or site map? All of these factors
make the visit to your web site a more pleasant one.
Reliability
- Your Web Host - the company you choose to host your web site is an important consideration. There are
many small hosting companies out there, but how reliable are they? Can they provide you with statistics showing
consistent availability? Your clients will be exasperated if they repeatedly try to get to your web site and find it
down! Worse still, small companies have a tendency to go out of business ... how convenient will it be if you have to move your site
to another web host?
- Site Maintenance - One of the most discouraging things to a potential customer is to follow links on your site and
find that pages don't exist, or images are missing, or links to external sites come up within a frame on your site.
All of these issues give a very unprofessional feel and are unlikely to encourage customers! Make sure your site is up to date, relevant and
that it works! Don't leave products on your web site that are no longer available. If there are special offers
with expiry dates, make sure the information is updated promptly when it is no longer appropriate.
Individuality
Your web site should reflect your company. You not only need to be comfortable with the design
yourself, but the overall look and feel of the site needs to give your visitors an impression of your company.
The visitor should go away with a clear knowledge of what your company can do for them AND that your
company is very likely the best place to get those products and services. Your web site needs a clear identity so that
visitors will remember it. The internet gives people a fantastic opportunity to comparison shop. Your web site needs
to stand out in the crowd.
Your web design is not going to appeal to everyone! What some people love, others will hate. The stronger
a statement you make with your web site, the more likely it is that some people will not like it. And wouldn't the world be
boring if we all liked the same things?
Quality
I have seen so many websites with grainy images, hideous colour schemes, seemingly random arrangement
of information, and weird (but not wonderful) fancy effects - they don't impress me, and I doubt they would
impress any site visitor! And how many websites have broken links, forms that don't work or even pages that don't work under
different web browsers! Make sure the web designer you choose has a proven track record. Make sure that you are
confident that the quality of their work is up to your standards.
If you want to sell products, how good an impression will dark, fuzzy product pictures make? Fancy MouseOver effects
and animations need to be used very carefully! If they're not well designed, what may seem like
"fun" can, in fact, be very irritating to someone who is seriously looking for information on products or
services!
Too many websites have little captions at the bottom saying "This web site is best viewed at 800x600 under Internet Explorer".
Unfortunately, web browsers do behave differently and do interpret various page codings in a variety of ways.
The above type of caption is the hallmark of a lazy web designer! Do you want your pages to break under different conditions?
Web browsers aren't the end of the story either! Many web designers "forget" to test their pages under different screen resolutions
and using different font size settings. Sometimes I wonder if they forget, or just don't know how to make their pages work
under different conditions!
Design Techniques
Apart from the general issues discussed above there are a number of specific techniques that a skilled
web designer will use in building your site.
- Accessibility - W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium issues guidelines and standards for web development)
Accessibility Guidelines are an important consideration. Various techniques should be employed in the construction
of your web pages so that everyone can use the pages. Vision impaired people require clear, contrasting colours and the
ability to resize the font on your pages. If your pages are built using fixed size fonts, the information may
well be unreadable to some people. Images should always have a text equivalent. Tables of information should still
make sense when linearised. Is your web designer familiar with these techniques? Can they offer to make
your site Bobby Approved? Don't limit your audience!
- Key Words - should be built into your web pages before submission to Search Engines. Key words and phrases
are a vital component in improving your ranking in Search Engine Hit Lists. Your web designer should be able to help
you choose these. Another factor in improving your ranking is using these keywords in the body of your web pages. This
reinforces the relevance of your web pages to the search and many search engines will rank you higher as a result.
- Image Size - It's all very well to speed up your web site by compressing the images. If they end up fuzzy,
grainy and dark, though, you've lost the battle before you even start. Nothing looks less professional
than poor quality images. Your web designer should be able to optimise the images so that they lose
nothing in quality and at the same time, aren't so large that they result in unacceptable page load times. A skilled
web designer can guide you as to the size and number of images that will enhance your pages without slowing them down.
There are design techniques which also optimise the use of images, retaining quality and site performance.
- Animation - Careful use of animation can enhance your site. The design of an animation, whether it
be a simple animated banner, or a sophisticated animation in Macromedia Flash, is vital. An animation should
be relevant to your site - it should add value, not just be cute! Animations need to be highly optimised. Why discourage
your visitors by making them wait minutes before they see anything useful? And animations should be useful!
If they don't convey something extra about your site that a static image or a paragraph of text can, then they
are a waste of time and effort. Animated banners and cute flashing images are probably the most annoying thing
you can put on a web site. Use them sparingly. Make sure they are appropriate and useful.
- Sound - Sound Effects, music tracks and voiceovers can also enhance your site. They can also degrade the
performance and become quite irritating. If you add sound to your site, it should in general, be subtle.
If possible, it should be optional - give the visitor an opportunity to switch it off should they wish to.
Your web designer should be familiar with techniques to add sound in an economical fashion. There are
ways to minimise files sizes and retain the useful effect of adding sound to your site.
Choosing a web designer is an important step. There are many people out there who profess
to know what they are doing. You need to like their existing work. Is the developer's site professional?
You need to be filled with confidence that
they can do the job for you. It's not enough if they sound like they know what they're doing.
Ask to be put in direct contact with some of their clients. A candid, independent review of the web developer
will speak volumes!! You owe it to yourself. I know. I have done more web site rescues than I like to admit.
|
