Web Essay

Effective web sites consider the needs of their audience, have a consistent look and feel, properly working hyperlinks, and do not contain distracting visual or sound effects on the pages.

A poorly designed website has no clearly defined audience, inconsistent page design, missing links, and can be visually or aurally jarring to the visitor. For a vivid example of a web page that abuses graphics and has no coherent design, please visit www.panix.com/~clays/biff/, a site nominated for Worst of the Web. Personally, I think this site was constructed as a joke, but it sure does offer a blazing example of what to avoid when creating a web page.

Bad website design is very common on the Internet. It is much easier to make a bad website than a good one. The careful Web Developer defines her site's audience, assesses available material, and drafts a site plan, even if it is only pen and paper, before writing the first page of code.

Most sites I have encountered on the Web fall into one of three categories:

• Personal websites
• Informational Website
• Commercial Websites

Personal Websites
Personal websites quite often are vanity pages where the author showcases his or her friends, poetry, favorite quotes, etc. Leanne's website (www.geocities.com/leanne101/) is an example of a vanity page, where the author is still learning web development and her site has some difficulty when she tries to use frames.

For example, on her "Quotes" page http://www.geocities.com/leanne101/quotesmain.html, if you click "Home" in the left hand navigation frame, it loads the splash page into the skinny left frame. You are then stuck in the left frame unless you remember that there is a small "Break out of Frames" link at the bottom of the splash page. A web site should be checked to make sure there are not such obvious technical errors.

Other personal websites are so well organized that they are nearly professional quality. Oftentimes these sites are hobby or activity specific and are the work of enthusiasts. The Organic Gardening Ring, www.geocities.com/organic_gardener.html, is one site I enjoy a lot and it is a voluntary effort by a committed organic gardener. The Organic Gardener site has a consistent look and feel, is easy to navigate, and has no major technical problems. The material is presented in an easy to read format, and uses hypertext effectively to place additional information only a mouse-click away. If the site author hadn't announced on the homepage that this site was a volunteer effort, I would think the Organic Gardener was a professional site, due to its excellent design and content.

Unfortunately these sites are not immune to poor design and technical problems. The National Zoo's web site (http://web2.si.edu/natzoo/) is a large, high profile site that has some pretty obvious problems, including a spelling mistake ("Live Sreaming Video") on the home page, broken links, and navigational problems. The navigational issue was the most vexing for me, since when I clicked on the link on the homepage labeled "Komodo Kam," I assumed I would go to the live camera showing Komodo dragons. Instead, I was dumped into a general site for Zoo TV. I had to click through two more pages to find the KomodoKam. A virtual zoo-goer doesn't care about all the stuff in between--he or she just wants to see the dragons. The link should be a direct link to the live camera.

One other major problem on the Zoo site was that the search feature did not work. I put in the word "tiger" and received no matches. Obviously needs to be fixed! The site is undergoing a redesign, so I hope the web master will catch these technology problems.

One online news site that recently underwent a redesign is www.russiatoday.com. Their site used to be very clear and easy to read, with the main story of the day centered in the monitor screen. The new front page layout is awful--lots of tiny text and all the current news is "below the fold."

Commercial websites
Commercial sites should aim to market the product or service to the prospective consumer. Some sites have forgotten all about their customers and get caught up in fancy effects. A perfect example is www.shulmanassoc.com/flash/intro.html, the web site for Schulman Associates, an executive recruiting firm. It is hard to believe that this site with its excessive (and meaningless) animation would appeal to high level executives.

Even if the animation didn't drive the customer away, it is very difficult to find meaningful information on the Schulman site. If I wanted to submit my resume, I would have to click through three levels to find a name and contact information. The Links page has been under construction for at least three months, and the flash animation on this page is weird--a line shoots from one stick figure to the next, to symbolize the linkages, I suppose. But wouldn't the link list be to sites rather than people? It didn't make sense to me.

On the opposite end of the commercial website specturm is IBM's huge but remarkably sensible site. When you open the page, it has a lot of information, but it is organized in a clean, easy to understand arrangement using tabs for navigation.

IBM must have thousands of pages in its site. Yet, an Internet newbie looking to price a PC can click on a link "For Home or Home Office" and see systems that fit his/her needs. A techie-wonk looking for the number of slots in the back of a server can access IBM's support section and find extensive product descriptions. The only drawback is that the site is fairly graphics-heavy, and it can be very slow to load.

Good web sites have a few characteristics in common: clear navigation, logical construction, and the customer's needs are always the primary focus. If a web site lacks any of these elements, it will not effectively reach its target audience.