Essential tips for web design
Published December 20, 2009 | 
- The navigational aspect – Being able to navigate the given set of links on the site plays a key role in shaping the stickiness factor of the site that is the time visitor stays and travels around the site. Thus, he would most likely go through the content of a page and then look around to locate another page of his interest.
- Keeping the layout design clean – In order to enhance a site’s looks and appearance, a spick and span layout that utilizes a lot of white space should be opted for. The designer must try and keep the attention on the content and possibly use the fonts which will be accessible on each and every computer to avoid the site appearing bungled.
- Striking an optimal loading time – In order to make sure that the loading time is short, a designer must try and avoid things like flash, graphics and scripts as much as possible since all of them take long time to load on a page. It is also better to ensure that the site doesn’t include any redundant tags or idle and useless scripts.
- Compatibility with the major browsers – The designer must make sure that the site operates properly on at least each of the major browsers used today. The best way to do this is to verify the site for Internet Explorer 5+, Mozilla Firefox 1+, Opera 7+, Safari 3+ and Netscape Navigator 6+ which more or less represent about 95% of the total web browsers in the world.
- Compatibility for Screen Resolutions: A site that is comprehensible and user friendly must always support its visitors to hang about and go through all the content on the site. For the web sites which have continuous extended pages of content it becomes extremely crucial since the total scrolling required gets condensed in the process. Now if the web site fails to appear attractive for any one resolution it is most likely that the user will exit the browser window with a feeling that the particular page is not meant for his viewing. Thus, crafting stretch layouts which will fit any kind of screen resolution makes sure that the web master will be aware that all the visitors can see a visually attractive and proficient site.
- Use of pure CSS: The fact is as clear as any writing on the wall that the computer world is gradually but surely shifting away from table based sites to pure CSS sites for a variety of factors. CSS sites offer an ease of access, reusability and significantly trim down the file size along with rendering a greater control on the overall appearance of the website.
Essential strategies for web design
Published December 10, 2009 | - Swift loading designs for a web site – THE most essential guideline for every single web designer to follow as a thumb rule is to take into account the aspect of loading time of a site. In fact, even if a designer winds up designing a web site which may look just fantastic but then very few are actually going to see that if it involves a long loading time. The designs have to be appropriate for the web and under any circumstances must not load for more than 15 seconds. It has to be kept in mind that even if one might have a fantastic appearance in case of an extensive loading time few will be able to witness it.
- The resolution compatibility – With the break neck speed of development in the area, toady one comes across computers which have different kinds and configurations of resolution. In fact, the range may begin from 640 x 480 to 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768 and it may even go higher. The designer must bear this in mind that his task is to create a site that is suitable for all of the above. To do the designing in terms of percentage instead of pixels would certainly be the finest way to accomplish the task.
- Congruency with the web browsers – To design a site which would be compatible with all web browsers is again very important. In other words, the site must maintain the same appearance in Mozilla Firefox and also in Internet Explorer. Thus, it would be a highly imprudent thing to stop the designing job just because the site looks and feels fantastic on IE. More often than not browsers such as Netscape create certain troubles, particularly when one is dealing with complex designs in HTML. However, instead of simply getting fed up the giving up the task, one must deal with the issue patiently as they can straightforwardly be repaired if one is tolerant enough.
- Minimal application of images – There re no second thoughts to the fact that the simplest of the designs are considered to be the most successful for the purpose of the web. Thus, keeping the web site straightforward and yet orderly is an essential task to accomplish. Cluttering up the page with large, colossal images must be avoided if possible since they always take long time to load. Instead of it, one can use a bit of creativity and design the page with elements such as tables, attractive icons, etc. which will inevitably attract the visitor to a certain portion of the web site. One must not forget that the majority of the web users are generally less interested in design and focuses on the content.
Designing user interfaces
Published November 30, 2009 | Considering the fact that we live in what is often described as the cyber age, it is only natural that we will have to come across various manifestations of the web technology in the different spheres of our daily lives. The very concept of the user interface is one such visible symptom of the aforementioned phenomenon. User interface design or user interface engineering as it is also referred to as, can be defined as the process of designing the computers, various appliances, machines, especially the mobile communication devices and accessories, software applications, along with websites where the primary focus is on the experience and interaction of the individual user.
The prime objective of a user interface design can be realized as an effort not only to simplify the user’s interaction procedure but also as competent as possible, that is mainly in terms of achieving the goals of the user which is often described as a user-centered design. One of the most accepted and common feature of an ideal or high quality user interface design should be the fact that it will facilitate, with no needless attention seeking to itself, the finishing of the assignment just around the corner. In fact, graphic design can even be used to validate a particular theme or a particular style to an interface while at the same time the usability factor will remain as it is without getting even slightly compromised.
One of the very basic objects of the entire process of the design is to ensure the equilibrium between the technical purpose as well as the visual elements that is the mental model, so as to build a particular system which will not only just be equipped but also utilizable and adjustable to the changing requirements and needs of the user. There are simply a huge and equally diversified range of projects from computer accessories, systems or peripherals, to automobiles, to even commercial airplanes that either involve or directly apply the fundamentals of the concept of Interface design. Although most of these assignments engage a good deal of the very basic human communication, there are certain cases which also demand a certain extent of exclusive skills and awareness. Thus in consequence, the designers mostly have a propensity to concentrate in certain kinds of assignments and encompass skills which are revolving around their technical know how, which can either be designing software, user research, web designing or even industrial design. However, it must be noted that there are several distinct and diverse steps, phases and processes that in its entirety constitute the user interface design. Among all these above mentioned phases, some of them are more stipulated than the rest, dependant up on the particular assignment.