PBA Front-End Programming

Web Design Elements

Web design elements

• For now, we will primarily focus on web design as such

• Given the– Purpose– Target Audience– Information Architecture– …

• … create ”good” web page designs

Web design elements

• Overall principle: Simplicity– KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)– Don’t make me think…– Minimal surprise– The user doesn’t want to spend time on our

website (usually)

Web design elements

Web design elements

• Design elements to consider– Colors, and other visual elements– Fonts/typefaces– Choice of proper text– Website structure and navigation– Page composition (Gestalt laws)– Using contrast

• Overview now, details later

Web design elements

• Why are colors important…?

Web design elements

• Vision is (usually) the ”strongest” human sense – primary source of information

• Humans are good at spotting differences in colors (~10 million hues)

• Colors and feelings are closely related• On a website, colors is the first thing we

notice – first impression is important!

Web design elements

Web design elements

• Fonts/typefaces – the visual form of text• Why is it important…?• Practical – must be easy to read textual

content on the website• Emotional – we also associate certain

typefaces with certain feeling, etc..

Web design elements

The Cocoa Libre Club

Ye Olde Pirates Inn

Web design elements

The Cocoa Libre Club

Ye Olde Pirates Inn

Web design elements

The Cocoa Libre Club

Ye Olde Pirates Inn

Web design elements

Death and Honor

Death and Honor

Web design elements

• Different target audiences require different textual formulations and complexties

• Kids hate long words!• Is your site supposed to be– Explicit (Introductory/casual)– Implicit (knowledgable/experienced)– Focused (kids/elderly/ethnic/subculture/…)

Web design elements

Uhhh, what…?

Web design elements

• How do we divide content into multiple pages?

• Depends on purpose!• Two main structures– Linear– Hierachical

• Search!

Web design elements

• How do we navigate from one page to another…?

• …through links!• Manifestations of links– Explicit link (www.cnn.com)– Text link (click here for info)– Metaphor (picture, icon, symbol,…)

Web design elements

Web design elements

Web design elements

• How do we ”put it all together” – how do we compose a good web page?

• Again, main driver is– KISS– Minimal surprise– Get the users job done

Web design elements

• Gestalt psychology deals with how humans make sense of visual input

• Gestalt laws: laws (empirical) about how humans assign meaning to collections of visual elements

• A sort of ”visual grammar”

Web design elements

• Example: Law of Proximity

Web design elements

• Example: Law of Similarity

Web design elements

• Example: Law of Isomorphism

Web design elements

• List of Gestalt Laws– Law of Proximity– Law of Symmetry– Law of Similarity– Law of Common Fate– Law of Continuation– Law of Isomorphism

– Law of Closure– Law of Figure-Ground– Law of Focal Point– Law of Simplicity– Law of Prägnanz– Law of Unity

Web design elements

Web design elements

• Gestalt laws deal primarily with perception of similar elements

• Elements are only similar if they are different from something else

• Making elements that are different or in contrast to other elements is a powerful effect

Web design elements

Web design elements

• Types of contrast– Color (several variants)– Size– Shape– Position– Formulation

Web design elements