Whytespace LtdSimple Online Solutions

BNI Park Rangers

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

How to be a good client

An education in the design principles of an effective website

Getting it right!

Web design principles

1. Design isn’t Art! Know your goal

2. Enough, and no more The Simple shall inherit the World Wide Web

3. Websites are for their visitors Getability and the Brand

Know Your Goal

Design isn’t art

Art is creating beautiful or thought-provoking things

for the sake of it.

Design is a discipline... creating communication with a

purpose the conscious creation of a new solution to a

problem or need.

Focus on designing the content, not the box it comes in

Know Your Goal

Design isn’t art

What is a goal A goal is a state of being, not a state of doing. It isn’t something you do, it’s somewhere you arrive.

So “designing a cool web site” isn’t a goal.

If you aren't clear on the problem, you can't design your way forward.

A website is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Know Your Goal

Design isn’t art

Simple Reduce and simplify goals, seeking to recognize the core

intention, motivation, or foundations that underlie a tactical goal

Realistic It's better to choose modest goals and practice achieving

them, than to be too ambitious and practice failure.

Specific Attaching specific success criteria to your goals help focus

the mind and intent much more.

The Simple shall inherit the World Wide Web

Enough, and no more!

How many: pages does the site need paragraphs to describe something important colors, logos, icons, pictures headings, lines, drop-downs fancy things

One thing too many may overload your visitor's attention span.

The Simple shall inherit the World Wide Web

Enough, and no more!

Important questions to ask: Does it convey important information? Does it contribute significantly to the brand? Does it help your visitor know “I'm in the right place” or

“This is the way to get what I want”?

Occam's Razor… “Given any two solutions to the same problem, all other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.”

The Simple shall inherit the World Wide Web

Enough, and no more!

The simple core It's always a good idea to look for the simple core

within a complex situation.

Be smart, not clever Keeping it simple is hard. One reason it’s hard is

because we so often feel compelled to be doing something “more”, to be different in order to keep the visitor interested. That’s how cleverness creeps in.

The purpose of design is not to draw attention to itself. It's to facilitate communication

The Simple shall inherit the World Wide Web

Enough, and no more!

Conventions are our friends There are thousands of common design patterns that

have become conventions, for good reason. Familiar, conventional solutions make life easier because

it takes less thought to understand something that looks and feels familiar and behaves just how you expect.

Web pages should be no more complex than they need to be to fulfill their various objectives.

Success = Attention / Stuff

Getability and the Brand

Websites are for their visitors

Two key questions: who’s really going to visit your web site what’s necessary to get your message to those people and

help them to take the next step

You need to know who your real visitors are, so that you can design a site for them.

Getability and the Brand

Websites are for their visitors

Questions visitors are implicitly asking Is this for me? Does it fit my expectations and budget? What are my options What are others using Why you and not them

People don’t come to your website unless they want your website to be the right one.

Getability and the Brand

Websites are for their visitors

Getability: Am I in the right place? A page's getability simply means how easy it is

for everyone to “get” what's going on

Brand: The sum of everything people perceive when they

experience the product, company, website etc. A brand is both a statement and a promise.

“This is who we are, and what we'll do for you”.

BGS Enterprises Inc.

Case study

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BGS Enterprises Inc.

Case study

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Summary

1. Design isn’t Art!

2. Enough, and no more!

3. Websites are for their visitors

Whytespace LtdSimple Online Solutions

BNI Park Rangers

Tuesday, November 30, 2010