Web Site Design Consideration

Presentation

The visual appeal of a site is important. Having colorful graphics and a well laid out structure invites users to explore the site further. Even if a user visits for a specific bit of information, an attractive and well constructed site is likely to have the user stay longer, look at more of the content, and return to the site more often than a less appealing site.

Many design purists may argue that the best site is substance over form (or content over presentation). They are right, an attractive site devoid of content may lure some users, but these users will not stay or return if there is no substance to the site. On the other hand even if there is substantial content, a bland or sloppy looking site is not as appealing to users as a site having equal content and an excellent presentation.

Care must be exercised so that the presentation is not overdone. It would be very counter-productive to bury a site's content under a large amount of irrelevant presentation material. Although extensive use of graphics, multimedia, Java applets, etc. may enhance the site's presentation, it will adversely affect the download time (refer to previous section on page size).

A typical well presented site may contain one or more graphics that are sized and placed to add to the appearance of a page, but improperly sized and haphazardly positioned graphics clutter a page which gives a sloppy appearance.

The position of the text, headers, and tables should follow a logical pattern. It is important to remember the site's purpose is to provide information and the page presentation should aid rather than hinder that. Using paragraphs, different headers and tables provide the user a clear and easy means to read and comprehend the page content.

The presentation of the site is similar to the presentation of a television ad. The ad's real purpose is to convey the sponsor's information about a product or service, but it is the presentation of the ad that attracts and peaks the interest of the viewer.

Not all browsers will show a page the same way, so be cautious. Eighty to ninety percent of users have browsers that tend to give better presentations of sites, but the other 10 to 20 percent can not be ignored. There are users with text-only browsers, sightless users with Braille pads or speech synthesizers, and users with browsers that do not support newer features (such as centering and tables).

The proper design of a site must ensure that the presentation received by any and all browsers is the best possible one. The Advanced Features section provides some tips on how to use the newer features and still provide a good presentation to users with older browsers.

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