PRINCIPLES OF WEB DESIGN
Usability and the utility, not the visual design, determine the success or failure of a web-site. Since the visitor of the page is the only person who clicks the mouse and therefore decides everything, user-centric design has become a standard approach for successful and profit-oriented web design. After all, if users can’t use a feature, it might as well not exist.
We aren’t going to discuss the implementation details (e.g. where the search box should be placed) as it has already been done in a number of articles; instead we focus on the main principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design — approaches which, used properly, can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and simplify the process of perceiving presented information.
Logo Designing
Principles Of Effective Web Design
In order to use the principles properly we first need to understand how users interact with web-sites, how they think and what are the basic patterns of users’ behavior.
How do users think?
Basically, users’ habits on the Web aren’t that different from customers’ habits in a store. Visitors glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. In fact, there are large parts of the page they don’t even look at.
Most users search for something interesting (or useful) and clickable; as soon as some promising candidates are found, users click. If the new page doesn’t meet users’ expectations, the Back button is clicked and the search process is continued.
* Users appreciate quality and credibility. If a page provides users with high-quality content, they are willing to compromise the content with advertisements and the design of the site. This is the reason why not-that-well-designed web-sites with high-quality content gain a lot of traffic over years. Content is more important than the design which supports it.
* Users don’t read, they scan. Analyzing a web-page, users search for some fixed points or anchors which would guide them through the content of the page.
# Web users are impatient and insist on instant gratification. Very simple principle: If a web-site isn’t able to meet users’ expectations, then designer failed to get his job done properly and the company loses money. The higher is the cognitive load and the less intuitive is the navigation, the more willing are users to leave the web-site and search for alternatives. [JN / DWU]
# Users don’t make optimal choices. Users don’t search for the quickest way to find the information they’re looking for. Neither do they scan web-page in a linear fashion, going sequentially from one site section to another one. Instead users satisfice; they choose the first reasonable option. As soon as they find a link that seems like it might lead to the goal, there is a very good chance that it will be immediately clicked. Optimizing is hard, and it takes a long time.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Candid web designing and development
Candid web designing and development services New Delhi, India
The Internet offers new opportunities for marketing businesses. To take advantage of the vast possibilities of this new medium, it is imperative for companies to have an online presence. The growing competition among businesses to secure a dominant position on the Internethas triggered a race for superior Website Designing and Development services.
In a situation like this, what your business needs is the support of a Website Design and Development company that offers technical experience combined with commitment to exceed your expectations. Candidinfo is a reputable name in web solutions. We offer state-of-the art Website Designing and Development services that can help you consolidate your online presence.
Corporate Web Identity
V Web Design Process
At Candidinfo, we follow a web designing process whereby our web designing team strives to create a website that is compelling in its features and not just in its aesthetics. As a business your purpose is to sell your products and services and not just to float a pretty web design process site.
Our creative web design team takes many measures and makes an in-depth study of your company so that we may present it in a detailed and clear manner. Also, while our team is busy creating a website design for you, they will continually be in contact with you.
At Candidinfo, we follow a 6-pronged web designing process:
Project Definition
Site Structure and wire frame
Visual Design and flow chart
Site Development
Hosting it on our beta server
Testing
Making it live on client server/site
The Internet offers new opportunities for marketing businesses. To take advantage of the vast possibilities of this new medium, it is imperative for companies to have an online presence. The growing competition among businesses to secure a dominant position on the Internethas triggered a race for superior Website Designing and Development services.
In a situation like this, what your business needs is the support of a Website Design and Development company that offers technical experience combined with commitment to exceed your expectations. Candidinfo is a reputable name in web solutions. We offer state-of-the art Website Designing and Development services that can help you consolidate your online presence.
Corporate Web Identity
V Web Design Process
At Candidinfo, we follow a web designing process whereby our web designing team strives to create a website that is compelling in its features and not just in its aesthetics. As a business your purpose is to sell your products and services and not just to float a pretty web design process site.
Our creative web design team takes many measures and makes an in-depth study of your company so that we may present it in a detailed and clear manner. Also, while our team is busy creating a website design for you, they will continually be in contact with you.
At Candidinfo, we follow a 6-pronged web designing process:
Project Definition
Site Structure and wire frame
Visual Design and flow chart
Site Development
Hosting it on our beta server
Testing
Making it live on client server/site
Web Graphic Design Ideas And Tips
Web Graphic Design Ideas And Tips
Fireworks is a really great tool you can use to create unique, attractive and professional graphics. Here are some really cool web graphic design tips you can try out using Macromedia Fireworks. Try them out and don't forget to check out our Fireworks Tips for more tips and tricks on Macromedia Fireworks.
Paste Inside
Here's a big favorite of mine. The Paste Inside property of Fireworks allows you to paste an image inside an object. You can get really amazing images in the shape of circles, hearts, ovals, diamonds etc. here's what you need to do:
1. Make the shape that you want using the ordinary shape tools found in your toolbar (e.g. circle, rectangle etc.)
2. Place the photograph within the shape
3. Select the image and cut it (Cntrl +X)
4. Then select the shape and click on Edit>Paste Inside (Cntrl+Shift+V)
5. The picture is now placed within the shape. If you want to move the picture within the shape, click on the white arrow in the toolbar and select the picture. Now you can move the image within the shape to get the perfect position. The image and the shape is now an object. If you select the object with the usual select tool, you can add cool effects like an inner bevel or a drop shadow. Play around with it and you can get some really professional looking graphics. You can also paste multiple images within a given shape.
Photo Optics
PhotoOptics is another cool tip on designing amazing graphics. You can adjust the brightness, color, contrast and more, using this feature. All you need to do is, select the image, go to XTras > PhotoOptics and play around with the options given. Try changing the hues, tints and brightness to get unique and attractive graphics.
Effects
Use the Fireworks Effects palette to make your graphics look different. Try out the drop shadow, inner bevel, outer bevel and glow. You can use these effects on buttons to give it a 3 dimensional look. Drop shadows look good on single images. It makes an image stand out in a page. We've used a bevel for the header and footer in our web site. Notice our web site is very simple but simple effects like a bevel or a drop shadow can make it look quite different!
Graphic Design Tips
* Have you ever tried to edit an image only to get very jagged edges and an unprofessional finish? Click here to learn the trick to professional image editing.
* Try using different levels of transparency to design eye-catching collages. Use the object palette in Fireworks and try out different percentages of opacity to get image transparency and merge the images to get beautiful collages.
Fireworks is a really great tool you can use to create unique, attractive and professional graphics. Here are some really cool web graphic design tips you can try out using Macromedia Fireworks. Try them out and don't forget to check out our Fireworks Tips for more tips and tricks on Macromedia Fireworks.
Paste Inside
Here's a big favorite of mine. The Paste Inside property of Fireworks allows you to paste an image inside an object. You can get really amazing images in the shape of circles, hearts, ovals, diamonds etc. here's what you need to do:
1. Make the shape that you want using the ordinary shape tools found in your toolbar (e.g. circle, rectangle etc.)
2. Place the photograph within the shape
3. Select the image and cut it (Cntrl +X)
4. Then select the shape and click on Edit>Paste Inside (Cntrl+Shift+V)
5. The picture is now placed within the shape. If you want to move the picture within the shape, click on the white arrow in the toolbar and select the picture. Now you can move the image within the shape to get the perfect position. The image and the shape is now an object. If you select the object with the usual select tool, you can add cool effects like an inner bevel or a drop shadow. Play around with it and you can get some really professional looking graphics. You can also paste multiple images within a given shape.
Photo Optics
PhotoOptics is another cool tip on designing amazing graphics. You can adjust the brightness, color, contrast and more, using this feature. All you need to do is, select the image, go to XTras > PhotoOptics and play around with the options given. Try changing the hues, tints and brightness to get unique and attractive graphics.
Effects
Use the Fireworks Effects palette to make your graphics look different. Try out the drop shadow, inner bevel, outer bevel and glow. You can use these effects on buttons to give it a 3 dimensional look. Drop shadows look good on single images. It makes an image stand out in a page. We've used a bevel for the header and footer in our web site. Notice our web site is very simple but simple effects like a bevel or a drop shadow can make it look quite different!
Graphic Design Tips
* Have you ever tried to edit an image only to get very jagged edges and an unprofessional finish? Click here to learn the trick to professional image editing.
* Try using different levels of transparency to design eye-catching collages. Use the object palette in Fireworks and try out different percentages of opacity to get image transparency and merge the images to get beautiful collages.
10 Tips on designing a fast loading web site
10 Tips on designing a fast loading web site
Tips and tricks on effective web design
The Number 1 rule that every web designer should follow is to create a fast loading web site. You might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. While designing a web site always think about how long it will take to load. Try out our tips to build a great looking web site that also loads fast.
1. Minimize the use of images - The key to a fast loading web site is to minimize the use of images. Images do enhance a page but don't make 80% of your web site only images. Instead break it down as much as possible to simple HTML. Notice the popular sites like Yahoo, Google, Ebay, Amazon etc., they have very few images because the load time is more important. Very often simple designs are the best.
2. Optimize images for the web - Once you have decided on the images that you need on your site, make sure that it is optimized for the web. They should be in the gif or jpeg format. You can also minimize the size of the image by choosing the number of colors you need, from the color palette. The less the colors you choose, the less the size of the image. You can also use online tools like Gif Wizard to optimize your images or to get a recommendation on how to cut down the size of an image.
3. Use Tables creatively - You can get some great looking designs by using tables creatively . Tables load very fast because it is just HTML code. Tables can be used in the homepage, menus or anywhere you like. Check out our homepage and our menus to see how we have used tables in our site.
Read more on Using HTML Tables Creatively
4. Cut down the use of animated gifs - Don't use animated gifs unless it is necessary. Animated gifs take a long time to load and can also be very irritating. But since they catch your attention you could use small animated gifs to draw a visitor's attention to a particular section of your site.
5. Design simple icons - Instead of using big, bulky images use simple and small icons that add a little color and draw the attention of a visitor. We have used small icons in our homepage to highlight the main sections of our site.
6. Use background images instead of big images whenever possible - Use background images whenever possible. This is usually a very useful tip for headers and footers. Instead of using an image of width 580 which is a uniform design you can use just a part of that as a background fill. This reduces the size of the web page as the image is small. The code will look like this : <tr background="/images/header_backgroud.gif" width="100%">
7. Try out CSS Styles - Have fun with CSS styles to get some cool text effects. Again, a CSS Style is simple HTML code so it loads very fast. You can create cool rollovers using CSS Styles.
Rollover the text on the right menu to see how we have used CSS Styles to get a simple but nice text effect.
Check out our CSS Styles tutorial for more cool tips on CSS Styles
8. Use Flash sparingly - There seems to be a lot of hype about Flash but I recommend that you minimize the use of Flash on a site. Don't make entire sites using Flash. It may look great but it takes hours to load and can really put off visitors. If you do want to use Flash use it within an HTML site and make sure it loads fast.
9. Design most of your site in HTML - As much as possible try to design your site using HTML. You can create great designs by just using HTML code. Use tables, CSS Styles and simple fonts to design your site. Minimize the use of animated gifs, Flash, bulky images etc.
10. Keep checking your load time - Last but not least, before you decide on the final design of your web site, check its load time on NetMechanic. This site gives you a free analysis of your web site which is extremely useful. We kept using it to improve our site till we got a report that said good loading time!
We learnt these tips while building our web site. We've enjoyed sharing them with you and hope that you found them useful
Tips and tricks on effective web design
The Number 1 rule that every web designer should follow is to create a fast loading web site. You might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. While designing a web site always think about how long it will take to load. Try out our tips to build a great looking web site that also loads fast.
1. Minimize the use of images - The key to a fast loading web site is to minimize the use of images. Images do enhance a page but don't make 80% of your web site only images. Instead break it down as much as possible to simple HTML. Notice the popular sites like Yahoo, Google, Ebay, Amazon etc., they have very few images because the load time is more important. Very often simple designs are the best.
2. Optimize images for the web - Once you have decided on the images that you need on your site, make sure that it is optimized for the web. They should be in the gif or jpeg format. You can also minimize the size of the image by choosing the number of colors you need, from the color palette. The less the colors you choose, the less the size of the image. You can also use online tools like Gif Wizard to optimize your images or to get a recommendation on how to cut down the size of an image.
3. Use Tables creatively - You can get some great looking designs by using tables creatively . Tables load very fast because it is just HTML code. Tables can be used in the homepage, menus or anywhere you like. Check out our homepage and our menus to see how we have used tables in our site.
Read more on Using HTML Tables Creatively
4. Cut down the use of animated gifs - Don't use animated gifs unless it is necessary. Animated gifs take a long time to load and can also be very irritating. But since they catch your attention you could use small animated gifs to draw a visitor's attention to a particular section of your site.
5. Design simple icons - Instead of using big, bulky images use simple and small icons that add a little color and draw the attention of a visitor. We have used small icons in our homepage to highlight the main sections of our site.
6. Use background images instead of big images whenever possible - Use background images whenever possible. This is usually a very useful tip for headers and footers. Instead of using an image of width 580 which is a uniform design you can use just a part of that as a background fill. This reduces the size of the web page as the image is small. The code will look like this : <tr background="/images/header_backgroud.gif" width="100%">
7. Try out CSS Styles - Have fun with CSS styles to get some cool text effects. Again, a CSS Style is simple HTML code so it loads very fast. You can create cool rollovers using CSS Styles.
Rollover the text on the right menu to see how we have used CSS Styles to get a simple but nice text effect.
Check out our CSS Styles tutorial for more cool tips on CSS Styles
8. Use Flash sparingly - There seems to be a lot of hype about Flash but I recommend that you minimize the use of Flash on a site. Don't make entire sites using Flash. It may look great but it takes hours to load and can really put off visitors. If you do want to use Flash use it within an HTML site and make sure it loads fast.
9. Design most of your site in HTML - As much as possible try to design your site using HTML. You can create great designs by just using HTML code. Use tables, CSS Styles and simple fonts to design your site. Minimize the use of animated gifs, Flash, bulky images etc.
10. Keep checking your load time - Last but not least, before you decide on the final design of your web site, check its load time on NetMechanic. This site gives you a free analysis of your web site which is extremely useful. We kept using it to improve our site till we got a report that said good loading time!
We learnt these tips while building our web site. We've enjoyed sharing them with you and hope that you found them useful
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