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.