Week 2 Designing For The Web

After watching this weeks lecture, i found it very useful in assessing and evaluating the different conventions and traits that web pages abide by. Even though most of these conventions when pointed out seem very simple, its something that i think as web browsers we take for granted. The style of say a web page scrolling down, highlighted words being seen as links web page logos being used as a link back to the home page etc, are all codes within a web page that help us move around with ease. I found the video lecture useful, as it gives you a list of questions and conventions that you need to assess before setting out on developing our own web page. It also made it easier for us to critically assess other web pages, and make up our own mind about how these web pages conventions and traits work within the page that we want to develop. As was mentioned in the lecture these codes and conventions are not the law and can be broken as long as they are being used in a way that is beneficial for the content.

Steve Krug’s analysis seems very fair and helpful when thinking about the approach to web usability, the idea of you being blindfolded and bumped into the bowls of a web page to try and find your way out, is a great example of how well have these web pages been created in terms of functionality. The questions that you should be able to answers within minutes of entering any web page ;

  • What site is this?
  • What page am i on?
  • What are the major sections of the site?
  • What are my options at this level?
  • Where are am I in the scheme of things?
  • How can i search

These can give anyone a clear idea of how to set up a web page so that it is functionally design well.

Also the questions in terms of browser compatibility and user connections speed are factors that have to be assess when creating a web page. As a Internet browser you again take for granted that the page is just going to work on whatever browser you have chosen to use, its a very different circumstance when creating your own piece of work.