INLS261/461 | Tools for Information Literacy

Jakob Nielsen suggests that we have an absolute need for design standards.

You cannot go wrong by following the direction given in the Web Style Guide [linked from every page on the class web site]. But we will review some basic considerations and offer a way to approach the process of designing your web site. The principles are pretty straightforward:

know your audience,
keep it simple,
be fast,
know the rules before you knowingly break them

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Define the purpose and the target audience

• what is your intent? what is the message you wish to convey, both in text and in feel?
• who are you trying to reach? who is your target audience?
• think about the audience
  • tailor your look and your content to appeal to this audience
  • consider their needs and their limitations

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Determine the structure of the site by sketching the navigation structure

• what is the top level page? this is home page, the page that will open when a user types in the URL of your web site's directory
• are there any second level pages? if so, they are children of the home page
• are there any third level pages? if so, each third level page is a child of the second level page it is subordinate to
  • one might stretch the metaphor by thinking of the home page as the parent, the second level pages as children, the third level pages as grandchildren
  • of course, this means a page might have a parent, some siblings, perhaps some children, even some aunts and uncles, and cousins
• a sketch will help you keep the relationships clear

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Determine the content and navigation for each page

• what kinds of text, images, or other objects are relevant to the topic of a particular page? remember, some things add code weight to a page and are thus more slowly loading, but sometimes the object is critical to the message and the load will have to be borne
• within the structure of your web site, plan
  to have every page link directly to the home page,
  to its parent page,
  to its children,
  and to its siblings.
  
• ponder designing a way to place the navigation tools so that they are visually similar
  and in the same relative position on each page

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Determine the design of the page

• don't forget that this is your page,
  so it should represent you in a manner you wish to be represented
• how do you plan to lay it out? what objects go where?
  • appropriateness
    • is the text appropriate for the audience?
    • do the images fit the purpose of the site?
      • do the images fit the size of the screen?
    • are the images appropriate for the audience?
    • are the colors appropriate for you and for your audience?
    • what other content would the audience expect to find?
  • user expectations: placement
    • users expect the most important thing on a page to be in the initial view on the screen
      put the important stuff above the fold
    • users have a way of reading pages, so design accordingly
  • user expectations: consistency
    • users want to be able to find things the second time they go looking for them
    • keep things spatially and visually consistent
  • user expectations: usability
    • links need to work: navigation needs to be clear and unambiguous
    • consider your user: colorblindness? you might want to consider color in all its aspects
    • if you expect a user will want to print something out from your site, offer them a way to do that easily [provide a link to a PDF version of a résumé, for example]

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Devise a simple, consistent naming system for your pages, images, and external files

Microsoft has some good advice

• create a main folder for our site on your client
• create subfolders within the main folder for the various components of your site
  • store materials for each of the components in their subfolders
• create a separate subfolder for images

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General good advice about things you want to consider in your design

Web Design That Won't Get You Into Trouble

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