Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
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Designing an effective Web site part 4 Let’s wrap up our thoughts on designing an effective Web page. You’ve seen a bunch of guidelines over the last few columns that help you set up an attractive and effective Web site. Now, it’s time to test and enhance the site’s look and feel. When you are visiting your own site, take time to act like a first-timer. Also make sure you don’t test only over a LAN: most visitors to your site will be using old-fashioned analog modems. As you examine each page remember that not all users will be able to take advantage of graphics on your pages because of speed or non-graphic browsers. Make sure your pages still work when non-graphics are used as there are quite a few people using older character-based browsers or browsers that can’t support Java and other newer developments. Most Web browsers allow users to turn off graphics for use with slow modems: test your site’s pages in this mode too to be sure they still look presentable. Most people who design Web sites for a living do so using and expecting visitors to have the latest generation of Web browser. Make sure the pages still work with older versions of the popular browsers, too, as many people don’t upgrade to new features right away. While you’re looking at your pages with different browsers also make a check of different screen resolutions. You might have designed the pages to look great at 1024x768, but a visitor using 640x480 might see a mess. Check all the different basic screen resolutions (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768) and color depths (16 color, 256 colors, etc) to make sure you can convey your message with each. Yes, it’s a lot of time involved in testing and verifying, but it’s better than losing a bunch of customers. Never develop sites that depend on a single browser or a plug-in that is not commonly available. If you do use plug-ins, add links to the plug-in site and allow alternatives if possible. After you’ve got your basic Web pages designed, you can add multimedia capabilities to your web site quite easily. You can add animation (movement of text or graphic elements), video clips (moving images), sound clips (audio effects and narration) and 3D and Virtual Reality (movement and control effects to provide "you are there" capabilities). Many Web generators provide these effects as part of the basic package and require no real effort from you. Animation can be very effective at communicating the reason for your web site and for drawing an eye. The problem with animation is that it may draw the eye away from the message of the site. Use animation sparingly and keep the effect duration minimal. You can also animate text like marquees and blink effects with very little effort, usually by selecting an option inside a Web page generation tool. These can also draw the eye to important items. A sometimes-useful effect is a slide show where images replace themselves as time passes. Again, these can be added without any programming. A video clip can provide several useful effects such as a product demo or the insides of a box you’re selling. However, video is bandwidth intensive and should be optional for the user. Let them click on a hyperlink if they want the video instead of forcing it on them. Sound can augment a message with a voice or other effect but again this can be time-consuming to download and should be done only when the effect is justified. Musical passages can accompany your site’s pages, as well, adding to the experience, but be aware of copyright issues and bandwidth concerns. On the whole, background music doesn’t work too well. 3D and VR effects can be very helpful for some subjects, such as technical or sales illustrations and graphics. With most 3D and VR systems the user can alter the camera angle, involving the user in the site. 3D and VR are very bandwidth intensive and not suitable for analog connections. Also get the user to choose the feature rather than force it on them. Frames are a popular feature with Web pages. Frames allow more than one file to appear on a Web screen at the same time by dividing the screen into two or more areas each displaying a separate file. This lets navigation bars across the top or side to be frozen on the screen instead of sliding off when the user scrolls. Frames lend themselves to some subjects, such as displaying page after page of information. For an example of a frame for this use, visit my Web site (http://www.tpci.com and follow the links to the reprints of this series). Frames are very overused: some Web sites use dozens on frames, all to poor effect. Most web sites don’t benefit from frames, but for some three frames (two navigation and one moving) are maximum practical values. When using frames remember that the user’s scrolling area is reduced noticeably, especially at 640480 screen resolutions. Keep frames small and effective. Frames can be used for effective advertising locations as they do not disappear but they chew up real estate and can annoy visitors. In the last few years there has been a trend away from using frames, but that seems to be reversing itself as more frame-oriented material is presented. That does it for our look at Web page design. Next column, back to the subject of e-commerce. |
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