Lesson 3.3
Developing a Style

As a web designer, you have great flexibility in what you do.  You can create audio-visual extravaganzas that impress people with your brilliance and skill.

When you take on a project, your job should be to help the client achieve their goals with the web site.  It is not meant to be a place where you "show off"  your skills.  You want to use your skills to help the client be successful in what they are trying to do.

There are some basic rules I would like you to follow as you take on web sites through the rest of this course.  Let's go over them briefly:

(1)   Consistent Look

Your site should have a "consistent" feel or look.  In other words, no matter where a user is within your site, they should have the sense that they have not wandered off to some other location on the internet.  What that usually requires on your part, as a designer, is a unified color scheme, appropriate type styles throughout the site, and a consistent design.

(2)   Accessibility

Keep your design geared for an 800 x 600 monitor, unless you know the users will all have a different size.  Maintain compatibility with all the common browsers.

(3)   The 8-Second Rule

Your page must load within 8 seconds on a 56 K modem or you will loose visitors.

(4)   Navigation

Your site should be easy to navigate.  Some features are expected by users today.  A user should never feel lost or unable to find what they are looking for.  They should never have to use the back arrow to get out of a dead end.

 

With these thoughts in mind, I would like you to study the following resources on the internet related to web design.  Not all will emphasize the "rules" I am giving you.  In fact, some will disagree with my rules.  That's ok.  Read them carefully.  Learn what these web designers feel is important to a good design.

The Yale Style Manual
by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton

This is the online version of their book on web design.  It will take some time to work through the book, but it is worth the effort.

The Alertbox:  Current Issues in Web Useability
by Dr. Jakob Neilson

A series of columns by an expert in useability issues.  Be sure to read the articles listed below, but feel free to read others on this site as well.

"Top Ten Mistakes of Web Design"  May 1996
"Top Ten Mistakes Revisited"  May 2, 1999
"Diferences Between Print Design and Web Design"  January 24, 1999
"Are Users Stupid?"  February 4, 2001