| You're probably thinking about your new website in | | | | had a huge Flash introduction, followed by two screens |
| terms of what it will be and do. It's equally important to | | | | of text which add up to maybe three paragraphs. This |
| consider it in terms of what it won't be and shouldn't | | | | is the web's answer to a 30-second TV spot. |
| be. | | | | Think about what you can't do in a 30-second TV |
| Imagine delivering sales presentations as epic poems, | | | | spot- these sites have the same problem. |
| and telling your spouse about your love for her with a | | | | -You can't sell effectively to multiple audiences. |
| PowerPoint presentation. Obviously, it won't work well. | | | | -You can't provide detailed specifications. |
| The web's exactly like any other medium- ideally suited | | | | -You can't build a community or resource that people |
| for certain tasks, clunky for others, and downright silly | | | | will come back to. How often do you watch old |
| for some. If you go into the web development process | | | | commercials for their informative value? |
| with a clear understanding of what websites aren't | | | | Some people might hope to use websites primarily to |
| good replacements for, you'll make choices which | | | | build brand awareness, or as a teaser, by which to |
| produce a better website. | | | | "force" your potential customers into contacting you |
| Websites are NOT desktop applications. | | | | for more information. Both of those assumptions are |
| If you're looking at developing a website as a | | | | naive. |
| replacement for software that once ran on your | | | | First, it's only practical to build brand awareness alone |
| internal network or PCs, you may come in dreaming | | | | when you've got a huge audience. This is the mindset |
| that your new website will be essentially the same | | | | behind Super Bowl ads- if you're lucky, enough people |
| environment, only living in a Firefox or IE window. This | | | | will remember you're the belching hamster company |
| mindset, carried too far, can result in significant added | | | | and see what you're about. An ad on the Super Bowl |
| complexity, and potentially limit the benefits you're | | | | reaches 60% of the TV audience at the time. Even |
| getting by moving to the web. It often means ignoring | | | | the most popular websites- Google and Yahoo- reach |
| the things which make the Web a usable place. | | | | 30% or less of the web-user population on a given |
| First, users have far more control over the flow of a | | | | day, according to traffic-analysis firm Alexa. For a |
| website session than if you work with a desktop | | | | more typical example, the site rated as the 37,249th |
| application. Although you can provide navigation, the | | | | most popular site on May 8th, 2007 only reached |
| odds are fairly strong that users will instead click the | | | | about 11 out of every million web users that day. |
| "back" and "forward" buttons to make their way | | | | Second, users resent being steered into making |
| through a multiple stage process. Some users tend to | | | | contact with you. Bandwidth and storage have never |
| open new browser windows at certain steps in the | | | | been cheaper, so there's very little excuse not to |
| procedure. This becomes dangerous when you use | | | | provide detailed information on your website. If |
| frames or AJAX technology to provide a site where | | | | everything is a "call us for more details" message, |
| parts of the site stay in place as you change others. If | | | | many users will bounce. They'll either be concerned |
| you click "Back" on the browser instead of the site's | | | | that the company isn't professional or capable enough |
| own "Go Back" control, you may find yourself returned | | | | to adequately fill out its own website, or suspicious that |
| to the beginning of a multi-stage task, or worse yet, | | | | they'll have to sit through solicitations once they make |
| stranded with no easy route back to the start or | | | | contact with you. |
| where you were before. | | | | -Websites are not TV itself either. |
| The news isn't all bad there: you can often design to | | | | People have been trying to turn the web into TV at |
| exploit this situation. A user who can open a new | | | | least since Internet Explorer 4 and its "Channel Bar". It's |
| browser window is less likely to become stranded | | | | a terrible metaphor. The Web offers so much more |
| because they can't get the information needed to | | | | than TV. |
| proceed, and some tasks obviously make sense to | | | | -Television tends to offer a selection of content that's |
| present as "click the back button and try again". | | | | a mile wide but six inches deep, while the Internet is |
| Second, websites should be "self-contained" when | | | | both wide and deep. If I want more information on a |
| possible. Even if you can't have the databases and the | | | | subject once a show has ended, the show itself rarely |
| code on the same machine, you can at least strive to | | | | provides me with options. A well-planned website will |
| move the whole assembly onto remote hosting. Many | | | | provide both its own resources and links to quality |
| desktop applications, especially for a business's internal | | | | sites, allowing me to go as far as I want in the topic. |
| use, rely on a server for the office. Every PC in the | | | | -There are no "Channels" on the Internet. If I turn on a |
| office draws information from that. If you follow the | | | | TV station, particularly a cable one, they're going to |
| same model for your website, you end up still having | | | | stick fairly close to their target subject matter. It's not |
| to take care of the office server, AND constantly | | | | like they're suddenly going to make pastry on the |
| monitor its connectivity to the website. | | | | Cartoon Network. This is perfect for a passive |
| Finally, performance characteristics are going to be | | | | medium- the program changes every 30 minutes for |
| different on the Web. Desktop applications are | | | | you, but doesn't wander far from home. |
| frequently processor- or disc-limited, but graphics are | | | | The Internet is more active. You choose both when to |
| essentially free. In comparison, web servers generally | | | | leave one site and where you're going next. Therefore, |
| have adequate processor and disc resources, which | | | | the click of a link corresponds to BOTH the click of a |
| are constrained by fairly limited transfer performance | | | | remote (switching to an entirely new line of content) |
| to the user. You might find you get better | | | | and a change of show (switching to new content on |
| responsiveness by devoting more time to processing | | | | the same theme) If you start organizing your site |
| data, if it can avoid the transfer of unnecessary large | | | | content into "channels", it tends to encourage to |
| images or intermediate tables. | | | | restrictions on navigation, trying to ensure that the user |
| -Websites are NOT PDF files. You all know PDF files- | | | | doesn't jump into a different "channel" too easily. |
| those little "land mines" of the web, which unexpectedly | | | | A "channel" mindset may also result in dividing content |
| spawn a slow-to-load plugin and a 5Mb download. | | | | in ways that don't match up with user's expectations, |
| Their saving grace is that they generally look the same | | | | just to fit into the existing set of channels, or an |
| on every computer you view them on. If a 1040 has to | | | | imposing proliferation of channels. |
| look a certain way, fine, use a PDF. If the document is | | | | A good example of this is the otherwise excellent |
| really destined for printing, then it's okay to force | | | | Craigslist. They organized their classified ads into types |
| specific font sizes and page layouts that look good | | | | of merchandise. These are classic channels- once you |
| when printed. There are, however, just as many | | | | get in one, the navigation doesn't provide an obvious |
| situations- such as product specifications and data | | | | way to jump into another. As a result, if you're looking |
| sheets- where the target is the screen- and site | | | | for an item which doesn't fit clearly into one of the |
| owners seem incapable of converting these | | | | categories, it's common to make several wrong |
| documents to true Web documents. | | | | guesses before finding the "right" category. |
| Replacing a bloated PDF with a comparable set of | | | | Furthermore, once you find the "right" category, you'll |
| HTML and images often results in faster loading, | | | | probably miss any ads which were placed in the |
| improved browser compatibility and stability (with no | | | | "wrong" category. |
| external plugin required, browser crashes and hangs | | | | If content has to be divided, there are some interesting |
| are much less common), and less clumsy navigation | | | | approaches which can help to lessen these problems: |
| (PDFs tend to throw off the "back" button's behaviour) | | | | -Wider categories reduce the ambiguity about where |
| Even those site owners who avoid using PDFs directly | | | | the desired content will be found. |
| often want to turn their web site into the functional | | | | -A site could present a category and still have links to |
| equivalent of a PDF file- they'll attempt to force the | | | | its conceptual "neighbours". |
| use of certain fonts, colours, and in some cases even | | | | Alternatively, the default view could include the |
| browsers in an attempt to control the presentation of | | | | neighbouring categories to ensure overlapping content |
| the page. While a reasonable amount of corporate | | | | is made available. |
| style is entirely acceptable, and can improve your | | | | -Heirarchical categories (like many online shops) avoid |
| image online, you can't hold a lot of hope for everyone | | | | the risk of a menu with 500 categories. |
| seeing your site exactly the same. Eventually you will | | | | -Tags instead of fixed categories allow users to |
| have a user on a mobile phone, or a person with fonts | | | | arrange the content in ways that make sense to them. |
| enlarged to accomodate weak eyes, and your vision | | | | The key to successful web development is to |
| will collapse. In that situation, the best approach is to | | | | recognize and cooperate with the foibles and |
| plan to let it collapse gracefully- ensure the navigation | | | | strengths of the medium. If you choose to design by |
| and content can still be read even under adverse | | | | metaphor, ensure that you're not becoming caught up |
| conditions. | | | | in the parts of the metaphor which won't work on the |
| -Websites are NOT TV commercials. | | | | web. |
| I'm sure you've went to more than one website which | | | | |