DESIGN ELEMENTS

1. Information Architecture:

the process by which a website’s content is organized into easily accessible components that support a wide variety of user access techniques (casual browsing, direct searching.) It is intimately related to the navigational system of the site. It is a two-step process: 1. involves organizing your site into a variety of categories – how many sections, subsections and how the site content will fit into this. 2. formalize the structure with INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM. – visual representation of the information architecture. Can take many forms:
TREE, SPHERICAL

2. Developing a visual metaphor:

universally applied to the entire website.
Before you even start working on your metaphor you need to be absolutely clear about the audience.
Be subtle, do not overdo

3. Storyboards (paper and brain):

before you go digital, storyboards are used to visualize the design as a complete entity. How colors interact, how interface elements work, how the navigational system is realized, how the visual metaphor plays out.

4. Developing intuitive navigation:

the best designed navigation is a highly artful mix of many different things: a bit of interface design, a dash of information architecture and a generous amount of psychology. However, there are some basic concepts:

5. Consistency:

one of the ways humans define the world around them, is based on the consistency and predictability of events. When a navigational system works properly, people come to unconsciously rely on it. Therefore, navigational system has to be consistent. – which means, the menu must be in the same place, it must have the same appearance and contents, and the interface where the navigational elements reside must not change to any significant degree. (Example: Terra Incognita). Help users quickly learn the navigational system. It should be consistent. Labels on the buttons should be straight to the point. Not the labels that do not make sense.

6. Clear and obvious visual message: because web is visual

1. color – pick a very limited palette
2. navigational elements: three trends: only icons, only textbased navigation, combination of both
3. Designing with bandwidth in mind: when you are downloading the web page, you are downloading html file and all imagery
Bandwidth: a measure of the amount of data that can be sent across the internet connection over a certain unit of time: (second, minute). It is usually measured in terms of KBPS – kilobits per second.


COLOR SCHEMES

Biggest Mistakes in Web Design

Dos and Donts of a good design