Chapter 8 Designing Web Sites

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Chapter 8Designing Web Sites
WWW
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OBJECTIVES

• Why a Web site?
• Life Cycle of Site Building
• Ways to Build a Web site
• Web Navigation Design
• Design Criteria

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WHY A WEB SITE?

• Reach Customers Quickly and Reliably
• Establish a Presence in Cyberspace
• Leverage Advertising Costs
• Reduce Customer Service Cost
• Promote Public Relations
• Penetrate International Markets
• Test-market New Products and Services

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LIFE CYCLE OF SITE BUILDING

• Plan the Site
• Define Audience and Connection
• Build Site Content
• Define Site Structure
• Visual Design

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PLAN THE SITE

• Define the Sites Goals
• Determine Who Will Be Involved
• Understand the Time and Need Constraints
• Ask Questions Deciding on Sites Mission and
  Purpose for the Organization

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PLANNING OBJECTIVES

• Speed up Interactive Process
• Reduce Human Intervention to a Minimum
• Save Time
• Save Buying and Selling Costs

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DEFINE AUDIENCE AND COMEPETITION

• Generate a List of Intended Audience
• Identify What Prospective Customers Want

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HOW CUSTOMERS JUDGE WEB SITES

• Product Prices
• Product Representation
• Product Selection
• Shipping and Handling
• Delivery
• Ordering
• Privacy Policy
• Web Navigation

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WEB DESIGN

• Focus on Speed and Responsiveness
• Create Scenarios and Test Cases
• Select a Set of Users for Trial

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COMPETITVE ANALYSIS

• Make a List of Competitors
• Evaluate Criteria
• Personalization
• Consistency
• Ease of Navigation

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BUILD SITE CONTENT

• Create Content Inventory
• Determine Priority of Each Department
• Analyze Feasibility of Each Function

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DEFINE SITE STRUCTURE

• Create Good Site Structure
• Explore Various Metaphors
• Define Architectural Blueprints
• Decide User Navigation

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VISUAL DESIGN

• Use Layout Grid
• Show icons, buttons, banners, etc.
• Establish Look and Feel of Site via Page Mock-ups
• Develop Web Personalization

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WAYS TO BUILD A WEB SITE

• Storefront Building Service
• ISP (Web Hosting) Service
• Do It Yourself

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STOREFRONT BUILDING SERVICE

• Offers Customized Online Store
• Provide Web Address
• Manage Web Traffic
• Maintain Store on Web Servers
• Drawbacks Lack of Personalization

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ISP SERVICES

• Provide E-Commerce Software
• Offer Well-Versed in Store-building Technology
• Advantage Good Customer Support

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DO IT YOURSELF

• Requires Experience
• Security
• Web Traffic Management
• Responsive Support
• Full-Time Web Administration
• Benefits Unlimited Upgrades and Customization

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WEB NAVIGATION DESIGN

• Create User Profiles
• Keep Human Factor as Part of the Design
• Use Scenarios
• Help View Navigation Process

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DESIGN TIPS

• Keep the Site Simple
• Address the Problem the Web site Needs to Solve
• Enhance Response Time
• Raise Transmission Speed
• Focus on Content
• Ensure Companys Name Visible
• Emphasize on Appearance
• Allow Easy Return to Homepage

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DESIGN CRITERIA

• Appearance
• Public Exposure
• Consistency
• Scalability
• Security
• Performance
• Navigation and Interactivity

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APPEARANCE

• Is the Site Aesthetically Pleasing?
• Conduct Quality Assurance
• Check the readiness of a Web site
• Examine how easy it passes under the stress of a
  Web production schedule
• Use a Style Guide
• Ensure consistency within the site

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PUBLIC EXPOSURE

• Site Availability
• Networking and Technology Infrastructure
• Network Administrators and Web Designers

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CONSISTENCY

• Will the Web site and Contents Appear the Same on
  Visitors Screens?
• Usage of HTML
• Provide Choice of Browser

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SCALABILITY

• Does the Site Provide a Seamless Growth Path?
• Capable of Being Expanded
• Protection of Initial Investment

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SECURITY

• Protect from Hackers
• Critical Web site Access
• Knowledge of Developers

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PERFORMANCE

• How Long Does It Take for the Page to Appear?
• Depend on Local Networking, Traffic Volume, Web
  Connection
• 45-second Timer

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NAVIGATION INTERACTIVITY

• How a Visitor Gets from One Page to Another
• Format Icons and Buttons
• Give out Function Descriptions of Each Icon

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Chapter 8Designing Web Sites
WWW