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Some of the primary concerns of a Website owner
should be:
- To present a clear set of choices for the
visitor
- To focus on a site design that is easily
used and comprehended
- To value the visitor's time
- To display consistent navigation methods
Websites need to have enough depth to be indexed
as a site relevant to the topic for the purpose
of search engine positioning. At face value,
this will detract from your primary purpose
of offering products or services. The answer
to this is that these types of pages don't need
to linked in the home page area. They can be
grouped under a category heading. If the visitor
chooses to explore these pages, they are available
one click down.
These pages may also end up being entry pages
from a search engine link. They must almost
give the site's options clearly to a casual
visitor.
Usability is a primary concern for designers,
whether they create Websites or any other product.
The example that I like to use is that if you
approach a glass door and push on it when it
needs to be pulled, then it is poorly designed.
Large flat spaces tell us that doors need to
be pushed. Handle-like bars tell us that doors
need to be pulled. Things are usable when the
information conveyed by the product combines
with the information that experience has already
given us to make the product's use self-evident.
Websites tend to grow organically as new ideas
or new products drive the creation of new pages.
It is important to reconsider navigation every
time new areas or pages are added.
The books in the right column, by Jakob Nielsen
and Donald Norman, take some attention and thought
to get through, but are very good at describing
design and usability issues based on research
and common sense.
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