Blog 5

http://www.rocketmedia.com/blog/article/website-design-how-much-is-too-much

How Much is Too Much?



This is a small article on how much is too much in web design. I have always wondered where the line is when adding too much. This short article was helpful in finding that line.

The most important thing to do before making a huge list of all the things I want is to simply focus on my goals. This seems to be the theme and any design advice. The article talks about implementing features that will facilitate my site goals.

When it comes to having too much on a site, of course it will be a bad thing. When things become clustered the user will no longer know where else to go but back. What I find as a great point that the article pointed out is that bare is bad as well. Sure if things are easy to find then the user will be happy. It is very important though for the user to stay on my site. If my site does not have much content to "hook" the user, then he/she will quickly become bored and leave.

The last advice the article gave was on adding things that do not frustrate the users. Sure it looks cool to have a flashing banner or other images, videos, javascript, flash, etc., and things that look cool would seem to make the site cool, but if these things are hard to work or take too long to load then the user will not care if it is the most boring site in the world at that point and simply want what he or she came to get and get out of there.

Blog 4

Site Architecture And Navigation Through Research - Article given in doc sharing

The most important part of designing is doing the research. Before ever picking up a pencil, or going in to Photoshop, it is important to know why I am doing what I am doing. Part of that is by sitting down with my client and know exactly what the purpose of his/her or their site is. It is also important to know what the user wants out of the site as well. If I mix together what the company and user wants, I am beginning to get somewhere. It is important to get an idea of what the user is expecting and give the user just that when arriving.

It is also very importnat to not only know the goals of the client and the user, but to know the product itself. If I am going to be helping the client sell shoes, I am going to need to know about these shoes. The article talks about visiting the shoe store and becoming a shoe expert. Also, it would help to interact with employees to emerse myself in that world. Once all of this is combined, I can then begin to consider constructing the site. 

There are different things to consider when working on the site's structure and navigation. Unless the site is less than 12 pages, I should not have a link to everywhere on my site. A good solution to this is to have collapsable navigation where when I hover over a link, it will give the user more specific options.

It is important to stay consistent. This can be accomplished by using the same colors on every page. The same colors and grid structure helps the user know that her or she is still on the same site. This is also important when it comes to brand. A clean and easy to use navigation will help the users stay away from constantly having to click the back button. It is important in all of this to have continuity so the user can feel comfortable when navigating at all times. 

Blog 3

Article was recommended from ecompanion

Interaction is More than Looking at Screens

I thought this article was definitely a good read. It puts the importance of interaction design mixed with today's world in perspective. The internet use to be a time of experiment. It has now shifted towards work and everyday use. Being as important as it is I begin to see why interaction design becomes so important. If people become use to interaction design and all of its advances, I need to stay current and constantly stimulate and stay ahead of the curve.

Another thing that was mentioned in the article was the mixture of computers and nature. I thought this was a very interesting part. It is true that we as humans see that we are loosing resources by building such a big world. Instead of making computers bigger and increase volume we need to find ways to make them more useful and innovative. With where we are headed, the natural world and the interactive design world will begin to work as one. Side note: This makes me think of the new show Revolution that is coming out where all of electricity goes out. It shows how nature has taken over. Sort of makes me think how important technology really is.