QU Branches Mission Statement

This website will highlight important dates, special events, and will exhibit imagery which visually describes some of the activities the campus ministry is involved with. The information will be modulated and easily navigable so the user can find what he/she is looking for quickly. The color scheme will consist primarily of blues and yellows to reflect the university colors. The site will cater to current ministry members, potential new members, alumni, and parents of members.

Chapter 2

1. As a designer, it is important to consider your own usage of the web and how it may change based on what it is that you seek. When searching for something very specific you may wish to utilize a search box but when casually browsing a site it is helpful to have an effective navigation system which lets you know where you are, where you have been, and provides you with options that will allot you to get where you may wish to go. On top of these considerations, it is important to create a navigation system that is usable but does not overpower the space and design on your site. Visitors are there to browse through content, not to focus on navigation elements.

2. This chapter poses a unique idea in determining how a site may be organized. Put each category and all of the contents that are to appear on the site on index cards and hand them to an outsider. Give them a chance to put the site together in a fashion that best suits them. After doing this several times with different potential users it will likely become much easier to organize the site in a way that will be clear and user friendly.

3. A smaller detail that I found interesting is the idea of creating black and white sketches of possible navigation systems. This forces you the designer and any outsiders who view it, to look beyond any color scheme or design issues and see only the layout and organization of the navigation elements. This process makes for much more effective analysis of only the navigation system.

4. Every website has a personality. What is important is that the personality matches the objectives and the message that the client wishes to achieve. The text describes a site's personality as a "unified web experience." Personality in a website is like the voice and tone in a literary work. Colors, typeface, layout, and imagery all work together to designate the personality that can either make or break a site.

5. The last point is a technical one. In today's world there is a wide variety of web experience, monitor size and resolution, browsers, and operating systems. All of this variation means that any site created can look very different from computer to computer. Being that all design choices are made for a reason, you want to design a page to be as universal as possible and it is wise to view your work at least in different web browsers before you finalize it.

Mission Statement

The purpose of my website is to exprees a little of my personality and my interests, as well as some portfolio work to the user. From the imagery, to the color palette, to the contents, nothing will be included in the site without thought and a purpose. My target audience will be others in my age group as they are likely to have the most interest. With that in mind, I will aim to communicate using a lot of imagery and not overloading the pages with text.

Chapter 1

1. When preparing to design a website it is important to be clear about the message you as a designer wish to convey. So much of the communication which comes through a website is not conveyed by the text but by the font choice, imagery, color palette, and the level of user interaction. The designer must consider all of these elements, as well as the knowledge about the most likely users of the site in order to develop and effective solution to convey the intended message.

2. It is important to know the client well, for it is their goals which you are trying to fulfill with the design. Identify the client’s problems before beginning to identify possible solutions. Design solutions will be more effective if you first develop a clear understanding of what exactly the client needs to accomplish. By following this method it is easier to avoid creating elements that are irrelevant or unnecessary.

3. So many times we’ve been told to “know your audience” but it is a crucial aspect of web design and as discussed in this section, it is important to anticipate your audience’s needs.
If a user can come to your site and quickly retrieve the information that they are looking for, the site is more likely to build user loyalty and satisfaction.

4. As a follow up to the last point, a designer should tailor the site to the user as opposed to the client. The site should solve the client’s problems but it should be designed in a way that makes for easy usability and provides what the users are looking for.

5. To develop a clear understanding of what your website should accomplish, it can be useful to compose a mission statement. This can be referred to throughout the design process and also when you feel the site is complete. It can serve as a test to help ensure that the site accomplishes everything you intended it to.

The Evolution of the Web

The author presents the evolution or "growth" of the web in a very engaging manner, comparing it to the growth of a human being. As infants, we struggle with tasks like taking our first steps or saying our first words; things that we do without thinking as adults. Like any new innovation, the web has gone through many stages, each presumably better and more effective than the last.

As many people know, the web began simply as a way to share information and it was strictly text based. It was not a mainstream tool. Only those who were in the know were able to use it.

The web became more attractive to the general public in 1993 when the use of tables was implemented in order to combine text and images on a page.

With the new ability to text with visual elements, graphic designers began to experiment with web design. Having grown up with the internet, I can't imagine being a graphic designer suddenly introdeced to digital design with the option of interactivity. As mentioned in the text, they did have difficulty with it. Designers were able to create nice presentations but the pages did not allow for a clear and easy interaction with the user.

The next stage of was a disaster that I remember well. New elements like Flash and many other plugins were introduced and web designers just went tech crazy, creating sites that were all bells and whistles with very little substance. It's like getting a new toy when you are a kid and you want to play with it all the time. We have realized now that it is important to understand the context of the page and what contributes to the experience and what simply detracts from the experience.

Today we are in what the author calls the usability era in which web designers are very conscious of who will be using their website. There are three main elements that must come together in order to make an effective, user-friendly website: presentation, organization, and interaction. The challenge for the web designer is to take these elements into consideration to create an experience for the user that is intuitive, informative, and evocative of the right kind of mood and emotions to fit the subject matter.

Web Comp

Site-Seeing: Preface

The author begins by stressing the importance of visual presentation in web design and how it can effect web usability. The visual presentation of a site communicates to the user what the site is about, what information they may find, and how they may find it. An effective visual design will guide the user through this process more easily.

Web site design has a set of some basic rules to follow while designing a site. The author points out that it is important to be aware of these rules but it is not always necessary to adhere to all of them. If everyone followed every rule strictly, there would be a good chance that many web sites would lose their unique qualities.

One of the most important things to remember while designing a site is your target audience. Who will be visiting your site? In order to make your site work most efficiently for the target audience, it is important to test your design on your target audience. This process will likely bring to the surface problems that you overlooked and you can find solutions to those problems before releasing the final product.

This text contains web design examples from the private level all the way up to corporate web sites. The point that will be stressed is the process involved in creating the structure, organization, and visual design and with a thorough understanding of those concepts, it does not matter who your client is.