Compass Designs

Before we start, let's take a second to actually think what a web site is. For anyone creating a web site I strongly recommend a small ebook by Seth Godin. In it, he says:

OK, so what do we get out of that? Well, its very important in the pre-design part of the process to be completely sure what the site is supposed to do. Then, break it down into pages, what should our viewer do next?

I recommend writing this out on a separate piece of paper:

Page Title: ______
Viewer response:_________
Content on page:_________

Notice how I think about the response before the actual content of the page. Once you have figured out you goals, you can then think about the criteria.

Here are the goals of the web site we will be designing:

• Create a site that can be easily revised
• Create a site that provides useful information and tools
• Create a site that encourages users to return
• Create a site that allows two-way communication with the community

We will be identifying what specific tools will be added on to this site later. Obviously ones that involved communication will be emphasized. Based on these goals, I have come up with the following criteria.

1. Fast browser load times
2. Browser Compatibility
3. Professional look
4. Accessibility
5. Design to web standards
6. Interactivity

Let's look at these one at a time.

1. Fast browser load times

The biggest single reason visitors do not stay at a Web site is that it takes too long to load – that is the time it takes for the page to appear on the computer screen. The site needs to be designed around the premise of 'loading' as quickly as possible. This issue is important for this site as most users connect with dial-up which is especially slow (compared to broadband).

To achieve this we will ensure a strong text base for the pages (text loads very, very quickly). When photographs are used, we will tailor them to be the appropriate size and structure to ensure that they load within an appropriate timeframe. From a technical standpoint, the sites will be designed with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in order to further minimize the date being received.

2. Browser compatibility

Let's take a look at what browsers people are actually using:

Source: http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat.htm

I don't try too hard to accommodate IE5 or less. It represents only a small fraction, and adds significant complications to the CSS coding through hacks (more on that later). You might think that this runs counter to any philosophy of accessibility, and you might be right. Besides, what are you doing using IE5 anyway?

3 Professional look

A professional “design look” is critical in how a web site is perceived by the user. A study conducted by a non-profit research group, Consumer WebWatch found that the leading factor about the credibility of a site was "Design Look" (cited by 46.1% -- the largest percentage by a factor of almost 2). A site’s credibility is a major factor in how much they use the site and how much they would return to it.

4. Accessibility

We discussed this in the last article, we want the site to be fully accessible to all. This requires additional attention is paid to the design and structure of the site. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) (http://www.w3.org/WAI/) describes accessibility:

“Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.

Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities. For example, a key principle of Web accessibility is designing Web sites and software that are flexible to meet different user needs, preferences, and situations. This flexibility also benefits people without disabilities in certain situations, such as people using a slow Internet connection.”

5. Design to web standards

Designing a web site to standards means having a site that will benefit the greatest number of web users while ensuring the long-term viability of the site itself. This means that a site can be viewed in an array of browsers, or other Internet devices such as PDA’s. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the international organization that develops web standards, directed by Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the World Wide Web.

When I think about it, to me meeting web standards for design essentially means separating content from presentation with Cascading Style Sheets. One advantage of the CSS-based layout is its flexibility — the content can be accessed regardless of the type of browser that is being used. It allows sites to work on many kinds of devices instead of just the personal computer.
Other advantages include:

• smaller file sizes and faster page loads,
• less bandwidth usage
• faster development and maintenance,
• easier to redesign.

It is worth noting that the design principles contained within accessibility and web standards also lead to sites that are more usable. Along with credibility, usability is a major factor in why viewers return to a site.

6. Interactivity

Without interactivity, a Web site is purely a book online. Interactive sites capture user details online and monitor what users do inside the system. The more visitors can interact and 'do things' on the site, the more likely they are to revisit. Using a content management system allows the easy integration of many interactive tools such as:

• forums
• newsletters
• polls
• media galleries
• event calendars
• document managers

All of these allow varying degrees of user interaction with the site.