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So you want a website? Here are some dos and don'ts of web design Marlyn Tadros
For NGOs in particular, design is second to content. NGOs need to recognize that it is not really about the design but about the information they are presenting to their audience. Don't misunderstand me: design is also important, but not in terms of how fancy it is, but rather in terms of how easy to use and non-distracting is. People visit your site because they want the information and they want it fast, without long waits, and without having to look for the information too long. Many NGO sites have fancy 'Introduction' Flash designs that are totally useless, take time to download, require a plug-in from users who do not necessarily have it nor want to have it, and are always annoying. There is no need for those introductions. While Flash has its uses, introductory pages for NGOs are not one of them. There are also pages that have more than one 'moving' object: for example a scrollbar at the bottom of the page, a flashing or blinking animation at the top, a flashing 'new' icon on the left etc. Any page should not have more than one animation unless there is an absolute necessity and justification. From usability studies, it was found that the eye is drawn to the flashing and moving objects, and therefore more than one could be very distracting for your user. Here are tips to remember:
What, then, makes a good web page? Color:
Graphics:
Navigation:
Text:
General Structure:
Things to think about before you begin to design [a scope definition document]: - Why do you want a website? is it to just let people know you exist? Is it to sell something? is it a 'virtual brochure'? is it to Network with others in the same country? is it to Network with others abroad is it to attract membership? is it to publish your views on an issue? is it to provide services to people? Each of these items will determine how you present your site, how big it should be, and how much content and/or images it should have, what languages will be used? etc. - Who is your audience? Are they computer savvy? Are they regular surfers of the Net? Are they students? - What do you want your audience to know or do? Buy something? Learn more about you? Get news from you? Is the site about news that you want to present? Information and articles? Entertain them? - How often will you update your site? do you have updated news for the site once a month or once a week or once a year? This will determine whether you need an 'Updated News' or News Update or something along those lines as a link on your site. It will also determine the structure of the site. - Do you have images/pictures to put on the site? Personalized images are the best. Even though there are wholesale images, it is impersonal and not real. Marketing sites use mostly this type of images. - Do you want interactivity on your site or do you want an informative site, or perhaps both? Creating a flow chart for your site before you begin and give it to your designer. You know more about your organization than the designer: A flow chart or a story-board are just other words for a draft of your site. On a piece of paper, taking into consideration the 'things to think about before you design' notes, write down what main Labels you want on your site. That is, you want a main page of course from which there are several links.. what are the Labels for those links? Eg.:
Note that it is always better to use a single word to indicate a link. Two words may also be all right, such as Programs and Activities for instance, or Research and Articles. Note also that there should not ten or fifteen links if it is a small site. It is just not worth having that many links. Ok.. now think. What will you put under About? That is, when someone clicks the About button, what should the content of the next page be? is it information generally about the company? an introductory paragraph? It is really up to you, but make sure your chart is clear in your mind. Your chart then should look like this:
Once you are sure of what you want, then begin writing the content of each page and see if you have missed something. For instance, what will you put on the first page which is the Main page? You may want to divide Products into 3 or 4 different products? So in your chart, here is what you do:
Depending on the site you are creating, you may need some site 'goodies'. Goodies are site 'extras', or add-ons, such as a Message Forum or a Discussion Board, where people could go and post messages and respond to each other. You may also need a Guestbook, where visitors to your site could write their comments and tell you that they had visited your site. Just think of the goodies too, because those will be part of the navigation page. You may want the guestbook to only be on the front page and not the other pages, in which case it should not be part of the navigation bar, but should go under Main page. Just think carefully about how you want your site to look. It will save you quite a bit of time doing corrections to it later on. Additional reading: - Krug, Steve. Don't make me think: a common sense approach
to web usability.
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We
all want beautiful, impressive web pages for our organization, but
'good' design does not necessarily mean fancy design with moving
objects, animation, scrolling text, or Flash design. A good design
is a simple and clear design, where your target audience does not
get lost when browsing your site. I have received requests from
NGOs who want fancy sites and who feel that if there are no 'moving
things' on the site, then it is not a good design. This is a myth. Content
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