This report is about our experiences with designing our web pages. In it you will find other opinions on what makes web pages good or bad from both www.glover.com and our instructor, Dr. James and me. There is also a little biography of the torture I went through in building my web page. I didn't even know what "html" was when I started this project. It was really difficult learning how to do everything and using a lot of trial and error, mostly error. But once I started getting the hang of it, it wasn't that bad. It has become part of my life because now I'm making another web page and will probably continue using this knowledge in the future. But you'll read more of that later.
When I first looked at this site, I liked the simplicity of it. There are only 5 links on the home page, unlike other pages where there are so many that you don't know where to start. The links are in the form of pictures, which are attractive and not so flashy as other people sometimes make them. I also liked how it showed what the link was about before the picture loaded so you don't have to waste time waiting for the picture if you don't want to. The graphics were pretty original, too. I thought it was really interesting how he made the title contort from saying "Welcome to" to "Glover.com", and how his picture pointed to the icon you were pointing to. I was interested to poke around in this site.
The purpose of this site to me, seemed to be basically, about ways of making your web sites more appealing. With links that say "Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Home Page" and "Do's and Don'ts of Web Site design", it seems pretty predictable of what your going to get out of this site. I liked the fact that there isn't much confusion and every thing is kept simple.
For example, when I went to the page "Do's and Don'ts of Web Site Design", there were two columns, one "Do's" and one "Don'ts". Very simple. There were no excess icons or colors. The language he uses is also very easy to read and enjoyable. Here are some things I understood from this page:
Another link on the Glover Home Page was titled "Top Ten Ways to Tell if You Have a Sucky Home Page". This interesting page gives his opinions of what really makes a home page "sucky". Although, he also mentions that you shouldn't have to listen to what other people consider as in bad taste, which I totally agree with. You should make your page however you want. But a few of the things he talks about are:
His next link, "Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Home Page", was deleted while I was about half way through it, because Glover changed his links. So from now on I will be talking about his new links, the first of which, is called, "Sucky to Savvy". Most of the things he talks about are similar to the previous, "Top Ten Ways to Tell if You Have A Sucky Home Page". Just look above to see the things he still considers as bad for your web page. Several more things he mentions that I now understand a little better are:
Next, Glover gives his advice on what would make your page more "savvy".
Glover's other newly added links are about his vacation to Disneyworld and his personal pages about his wacky life. If you want to see them you can click on his link, but otherwise I won't bore you with it.
As I read through Dr. James' page on home page architecture, I was overwhelmed at how much there was. I asked myself why in the world I would have to read all of that. I knew this was going to take forever. But as I looked through it, I noticed that it was pretty easy to read. I think Dr. James had the right idea of making a lot of information enjoyable to read. I believe that is very important in this technical cyber-world. It needs a lot of personal touch and humor instead of just data and information.
I liked the part in his Home Pages are Loved section where he tried to make his friend appreciate the detail of someone's page:
I could hardly keep myself from trying to interfere with him, from speaking harshly at him saying, Don't just click like that on anything. Examine first. Appreciate it. Look at the whole thing. Scroll up and down several times. Wait, look at that design layout. Isn't it magnificent. Look the person did their own logo and they worked hard on that background with little yellow roses and pink tulips. Notice the way the little balls next to each link are shaded at the bottom giving it a 3-D effect.
It's hard for people to understand how much work goes into making a web page. I think you have to try and create one yourself to know how much effort it takes to learn how, to actually do it, and to continually update it. Even I find myself flipping through web pages like nothing and not stopping to appreciate them. But, having to create pages yourself, you find yourself saying things like, "Wow! How'd they do that?" or admiring some original piece of graphics. Sometimes when you see something new, you just can't help to stop and look for a while.
Another part of Dr. James' article that I thought would be useful was Informational Content of Home Pages. In this section he advises that we should look at our pages with an objective view. Would your page be clear and understandable if you were a visitor for the first time? He also says to notice where your eyes go and if it leads people in the right direction.Clarity and orderliness greatly help the fight against confusion. Look at your Page and ask yourself how visitors would react, where their eyes would go, what can they conclude, what clues can you give them, what are they to do next, and so on. Therefore you need to take charge of your Home Pages. You need to manage the visitors, choreograph their steps (or hops), so to speak. Make them feel guided, rather than left alone in an impersonal system.
Many people won't know what your page is about so you might have to give an explanation. It's hard when you are searching for a certain subject, and you get to a page where you can't tell if it has anything to do with your subject. Then you may skip the page and get lost somewhere in booneyland. Therefore, it's always best to let your visitors know where they're at and where they should go, clearly. Dr. James also says to create an index to all your pages to make navigating easier.
The Informational Content of Home Pages was just one aspect of creating our pages. The other is the Stylistic Features of Home Pages. Obviously Dr. James feels that keeping unnecessary graphics to a minimum is of utmost importance:
Above all, be sure that visitors don't end up waiting impatiently for your Page to load. No spiffy background effect or spectacular images will be appreciated by cybernauts who have to wait precious seconds for you to load just so you can show off!! So how much is too long to wait? In my opinion, the shorter the better. As a rule of thumb, I would say that anything more than 10 secs. is too long to wait for a Home Page. This rule is different for long text files with no images. These can be tolerated since they yield text or content, not just appearance.
I am one of those impatient people, too, when it comes to waiting for web pages. But I think most people would rather get a page quickly than wait for something that looks spectacular. There are ways of making really great looking pages and still getting them to load fast. For some helpful hints, visit www.glover.com.
I guess Glover and Dr. James seem to be in agreement over many aspects of web design. Basically, they suggest keeping your page clear and simple. Especially if your purpose is like mine, writing reports for class, it's better to keep pictures and mind bending backgrounds out. Also, try to make your page so that it will load as quickly as possible. You may lose many people if they have to wait around. Finally, the main point is to try and have fun. It can be really grueling sometimes but its worth it.
When I started this class, I started from scratch. And I mean really started from scratch. The last computer I really used was an ATARI 400! I hadn't the slightest clue about anything that had to do with computers. The closest I got was watching my friends surf through the internet. I think I used a friends word processor a couple times, but with a lot of trouble. Anyway, you get the idea, I was illiterate.
My parents had just bought a Mac but I hardly used it, and this class was what forced me to challenge that dusty machine. But, I didn't know what I was getting into. The first time I went to class was already the second class meeting, and it sounded like everyone was using a foreign language. It was really intimidating. I had a lot of catching up to do. So for the next several weeks I spent hour after hour slaving over my computer trying to learn everything I was supposed to know. To be honest, I really hated this class and wanted to drop out! Unfortunately, I really needed it to graduate so there was no turning back. I just had to do my best no matter how frustrating it was.
Now as I look back, I've learned a whole lot from this class. I never thought I'd be creating my own web page and even giving some people advice on their computers. I am able to do so many things I didn't even know existed before. For example, I use my e-mail almost everyday, go on the web pretty often, and can use my word processor without much problems. My typing has even improved about 100%! But the best thing is that I've created a solid base in my computer abilities to build on in the future.
I definitely plan on using these skills in the future. Especially because these abilities are so important to have now in the working world and even for personal use. Now I am constructing another web page and will be involved in updating it, and will probably continue doing everything I learned in this class.
If I have to give advice to the next generation, it would be to not give up and don't procrastinate. If you are like me and didn't know didlysquat, take the time to learn everything you need to. Don't skip over anything because it will only hurt you later, so don't give up. Even if you feel like smashing the computer! And start on your assignments early. They are way too much to handle the night before they're due. You'll be happy when the class is over!
As for the instructor, there's not much advice I can think of for him, except that I wished he was at the computer lab more often because the lab attendant is always busy helping someone else. And another thing that made our generation difficult was that transfer to the CSS account and not being able to edit in there. I think that creates such a hassle for everyone. Dr. James, please do something about that!
The first article I found was with Webcrawler under "psychology of web design" and it was called, appropriately, Web Page Design. Here they explain a little about the basics of building your web page and about the internet. They also have some advice that is similar to what we've been talking about:
The number of people using the Web is growing at a mind-boggling pace, in practice this means that it will get slower and slower as more people join. It is vitally important that your page loads quickly. You have wasted your money if your potential customer, who has gone to the trouble of locating you, gets bored waiting for all the graphics to arrive. They will, and they do, click the STOP button if a page takes too long to arrive!
Another interesting article I recommend reading which I found through Yahoo is called Psychology of Web Page Design. Instead of just talking about what's good for your web site, the author, George Watson Hall Smith III, incorporates psychological principles and terms in relation to web construction.
There wasn't many articles I could find that relates to the psychological forces in web design and navigation. The closest I could get were articles about how to build your business through the web, how to find people who can help you, psychology classes, or totally unrelated junk. It seems that there isn't much of this information available, although, I think as the web continues to grow, there will be much more concern and material about this topic.