Slide 1-1 The Web Wizard’s Guide to Web Design by James Lengel

Slide 1-2 CHAPTER 1 Planning a Web Site

Objectives  Learn how to identify and describe the audience for your Web site  Understand how to determine and describe your site’s purpose  Learn how to plan and chart your site’s structure  Understand the possibilities of communication through your site

Slide 1-4 Identifying the audience  User-Centered Design Organization-centered sites are built from the point of view of the company or group that is publishing the site. Technology-centered sites start with a particular set of tools and the site is built around the features of that technology. User-centered sites begin with the situation of the people who make up the target audience. What is it the user is looking for on your site and why are they there?

Slide 1-5 How to define the audience  By age  By gender  By geographic location  By level of income  By level of education  By ethnicity  By interest (why they came to your site)  By history (how they found your site) The more characteristics you can define, the more precise and useful your audience definition will be.

Slide 1-6 Determining your site’s purpose  After you know who will be visiting your site, you will need to consider what they will be using it for and why. Goals of the organization Goals of the user Objectives for display Objectives for interactivity Objectives for communication Objectives for technology

Planning the structure  The structure defines the layout and functions of each of the parts of your website and how the user will navigate to them

Slide 1-8 Speccing out the flow chart  You can make your flow chart more useful if you use it to specify certain important characteristics of the pages you’ve diagrammed. Display Video Clips Filename: videosmith.html Images: logo.gif Multimedia: videosmith.mov Text: smith bio; video synopsis Links: smith home page Menu items: search video clips, teaching resources

Slide 1-9 Understanding the possibilities  Using text  Using images  Using multimedia  Using interactivity

Slide 1-10 Using text  Most important aspect of site design  Used to communicate and navigate  Consider the possibility users may want to print your content  What kind of text will be needed on each screen? Long scrolling articles Short paragraphs which fit on one screen Has the text already been written?

Slide 1-11 Using images  2 nd most frequently form of communication on the Internet  Even with increased bandwidth available to users, you must still consider the weight of the images you use A home page should have a total weight of less than 100Kb, other pages less than 60Kb  Images also are playing a larger role in navigational aids Image maps Icons Rollovers

Slide 1-12 Using Multimedia  Authoring tools are becoming easier to use  Bandwidth is increasing  Can be more difficult to create and more difficult for the users to use (e.g.plugins) Animation Sound Video Virtual Reality

Slide 1-13 Using interactivity  One of the greatest differentiators between the WWW and other forms of media Animation Search & find Buy & sell Manipulate Construct Q & A Conversation Playing around

Slide 1-14 Summary  You must begin your design by understanding your purpose and your users  Mapping your site early will save many headaches later  Gee-Whiz’s are fun, but are they necessary for your purposes  Understand what is the best technology to use given your previously stated goals