web design core concepts
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Web Design: Core Concepts
Design as Problem Solving & Core Design Principles
Don Stanley 3Rhino Media | UW-Madison [email protected] 561 7097
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
What is Design?Clutter and confusion are failures of design,not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
What is Design?
Problem Solving/Sense Making
DESIGN = Communication
Clutter and confusion are failures of design,not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
What is Design?
Problem Solving/Sense Making
DESIGN = Communication
Clutter and confusion are failures of design,not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Why Study Design?
Vision trumps all other senses when it comes to our brain. Our brain is highly attuned to the sense of vision.
Recognition and recall soar with pictures. According to John Medina, Ph.D., if we hear a piece of information, three days later we will remember 10% of it.
Add a picture and you will remember 65%!
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Interfaces Impact ExperienceInterface design refers to what we see and interact with. What we see has a huge influence on our experience (Don Norman, Ph.D.)
User Experience Our experience determines if we will interact with a product or tool. And we have choices.
Consider these two text blocks …
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Interface Design, UX, How We Use
Interface Design, UX, How We Use
Interface design refers to what we see. What we see has a huge influence on our experience (Don Norman, Ph.D.)
User Experience: Our experience determines if we will interact with a product or tool. And we have choices
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Think Like a HumanUsability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Think Like a HumanUsability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
Fact #2: We don’t make optimal choices, we satisfice
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
Fact #2: We don’t make optimal choices, we satisfice
Fact #3: We don’t figure out how things work. We muddle through because it works enough.
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013
Think Like a HumanUsability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Reality
Design is a Planned ProcessWeb communication involves creating an organized plan to
improve a site to better serve customers and drive desired business outcomes.”
- Leigh Duncan
4 Phase Plan, the 4Ds:1. Discovery2. Design & Dictate3. Develop4. Deploy and Determine
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Fall 2012
Discovery: Most Important DThe Law of the Vital Few –
aka Pareto’s Principle
Why do most organizations fail? Let’s take a look …
Law of the Unvital Many
Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for? Connections?
Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for? Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming to your site? What do they get?
Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for? Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming to your site? What do they get?
ACTIONS: What activities do they need to need to take to achieve their goals? (watch a video, sign up for email, download something, etc.)
Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for? Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming to your site? What do they get?
ACTIONS: What activities do they need to need to take to achieve their goals? (watch a video, sign up for email, download something, etc.)
BUILD AUDIENCE: What is the best way to share this with your key audience? How do you promote your site?
Design CRAP: ContrastCONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape, placement. What does contrast do?
• It provides a road map of what’s important
• It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
• It differentiates elements so readers know what you think is important
• It brings out dominant elements• It mutes lesser elements• It creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly It differentiates elementsIt brings out dominant elementsIt mutes lesser elementsIt creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly It differentiates elementsIt brings out dominant elementsIt mutes lesser elementsIt creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly It differentiates elementsIt brings out dominant elementsIt mutes lesser elementsIt creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: RepetitionREPETITION - repeating the use of various elements such as color, size, layout, typefaces, image styles to convey meaning. How does this apply to navigation? Headers? Multiple pages?
Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly It differentiates elementsIt brings out dominant elementsIt mutes lesser elementsIt creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: AlignmentALIGNMENT - Alignment is another way of creating associations between visual elements, which help users quickly understand the relationships of objects on a page.
Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly It differentiates elementsIt brings out dominant elementsIt mutes lesser elementsIt creates dynamism
Think google.com
Design CRAP: Contrast
Design CRAP: ProximityPROXIMITY - Elements that are related should be visually connected. Likewise, elements that are not related should be visually separated. Use whitespace, colors, backgrounds, etc.
Let’s look at an example of the principles in action.
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