|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rip Smith |
web design An Old Story Some years ago, I was producing a sports special that was going to be shown on ESPN. The Executive Producer who hired me asked me to check out a new digital special effects box at a local post-production facility. His instruction was that I should incorporate an effect from this unit into the opening segment of the show. "Which specific effect?" I asked. He liked the one where you could take a picture and roll it up into a ball and get it to spin. I asked if there was a particular reason he wanted to use this effect and the answer was basically, because it was there. This was an example of special effects for their own sake, rather than using special effects to enhance the viewers' experience. It was directly contrary to my usual approach to special effects, which was to determine what the message is, and then select the effects (if needed) that would enhance the message. Which brings me around to web design. Ergonomic Web Design With all the hype around about multimedia, animated graphics, and the like, the net abounds with web sites that are flashy, but the flash (in the generic sense - not to be confused with Macromedia Flash) does nothing but slow the site down, and frequently does nothing to provide the visitor with the information they came to find. A web site is, first and foremost, a communication tool. In order to communicate, you must have a message and you must have someone to whom to communicate that message. Understanding the audience for your message is key to crafting that message so your audience will "get" the message. Crafting the message on the web involves writing and a sense of visual design so that the message will be presented in a pleasing environment. No amount of sophisticated Java or DHTML code can make a good web site if the words are poorly written and the message is obscured by the "bells and whistles." So what does all of this have to do with ergonomics? Ergonomics is defined as the "study of work" and, in general, refers to how humans interact with the things they work with. When we log on to a web site, we interact with it. How easily we find the information we are seeking, or how well the site provides the intended "experience", is largely a matter of ergonomics. Good web site ergonomics involves an easy to follow navigation design, readable text, fast loading graphics and links that all work. Overlaid on those characteristics, well written text, high quality graphics and a pleasing environment add up to a successful web site. And in the end, if the message demands some fancy multimedia, then let's get to it, but we now have the horse before the cart.
|
Examples The Blair Mansion Inn Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Montgomery County Emergency and Public Service Net Darnestown,
Maryland Real Estate:
|