Web Pages
Site Planning and Design Considerations

So you are ready to redesign your web site. It seems like you just did this. In fact, you just figured out how the current site was working. Alas, the world of the web marches on, constantly pushing the envelope with new technologies. Before you get carried away and then get mired in developing the site of the century, take some time to plan what you want to accomplish.

Consider Your Audience

Who is the audience that will be looking at your site? It's helpful to sketch out some initial ideas on paper (yes, paper is okay to use). This will give you an image of the size and layout of the site. If it looks confusing on paper, consider removing or condensing some pages. Define your audience by what they need from your site. Make this information easy to find, not buried several layers deep. Also consider where your audience will be viewing your site. If it is primarily at their home on a modem, pages will load more slowly than if they are viewing it on a DSL or faster line.

Maintaining Your Site

Make sure that you are getting a site that can be maintained with the resources that you have. If you are maintaining the site on your own, be cautious of including elements that will need a programmer to update.

Taking time to plan is a valuable first step in creating an attractive, useable web site.

Effective Design

For the purpose of UW CES web design, there are two primary aspects to consider when going into the design phase. The first is the overall image of the site. These are things like which color scheme you will use, which font, and what type of layout. While the color scheme is flexible, there are many standard resources that should be implemented in your site to make it consistent with the university's overall image. These include the UW letter type (logo), banner, backgrounds, and fonts. More information on these elements is available at http://www.uwyo.edu/publicrelations/resources/web_guidelines.asp.

The second design aspect to consider is the visual presentation. Here are some tips for making a more visually appealing web site.

Control Line Length

Have you ever gone to a site where the text runs the entire horizontal length of the page? It becomes very tiresome for your eyes to have to travel back and forth while reading the text. Instead, use tables to make columns for your text that limit the line length to a more readable distance. Try to find a balance between line length and page depth. You can also make lines too short, which results in page scrolling - another reading annoyance.

Leave Some "White" Space

It is easy to start filling up a web page with pictures and graphics. However, there are two serious drawbacks to this. First, the more images on a page, the large the file size, and consequently, download time. Secondly, all the visual elements on a page are competing for your attention. Just think of web pages you have seen that have banner ads running across the top and sides of a page. Give your audience's eyes a break and draw attention to only the most important elements. Leave out the rest so that there is some "white" space (or whatever color you are using) that contains nothing. This makes the elements that are on the page appear to be more important.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Seriously)

There are endless possibilities for creating a web site full of interactive menus, Flash presentations, sounds, and other engaging elements. Although these can be impressive, often times keeping it simple is better.

If you are an experienced web surfer, you have seen many examples of moving menus, banner ads, pop-up ads, and other neat tricks. Your reaction to many of these is probably negative (unless you really have been looking everywhere for the X10 spy camera - a common pop-up ad). This is evidenced by products from Internet service providers which block pop-ups from appearing.

When the, would you do the same type of things on your own site? Done correctly and sparingly, these types of interactivity can add a nice touch to your site. If done incorrectly, the negative repercussions can be costly. Would you return to a site that annoyed you or didn't display properly?

As part of a public institution, we need to ensure that our sites are accessible and usable. Adding drop-down menus and other rollover effects as the only source of navigation alienates some of our audience. If you must use these elements, provide an alternative site path that does not utilize these elements.

Finally, if you're having someone else design your site (such as a student worker), make sure they are aware of the need for accessibility. If you will be maintaining the site, do not allow elements put in that you cannot update on your own. If you have questions about this or other comments, please contact Randy Anderson.

Information gathered from UW web sources

Ed. 09/2003

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Updated 09/15/2006

Web Pages Site Planning and Design Considerations