Week Four Reading;

Things a site needs to have:
Site Identity and Mission Statement: The Home page has to tell me what site this is and what it’s for—and if possible, why I should be here and not at some other site.
Site Hierarchy: The Home page has to give an overview of what the site has to offer—both content and features—and how it’s all organized. This is usually handled by the persistent navigation.
Search: Prominently displayed search bar
Teasers: Site needs to entice me to go deeper just like a book or magazine cover
Timely Content: Content is updated regularly to avoid the site becoming a bore.
A site's home page needs to answer the four main questions, What is this?, What do they have here?, What can I do here?, Why should I be here instead of somewhere else?
Some common excuses for confusing home pages are the creator thinking that what they are conveying is obvious and they don't need to include it. Thinking that reading a site explanation once is enough and seeing it any more times would be considered bothersome. Also thinking that the viewers will understand the site because they wanted to go to it in the first place, which is not true at all.
One of the most valuable bits of real estate is the space right next to the Site ID. When we see a phrase that’s visually connected to the ID, weknow it’s meant to be a tagline, and so we read it as a description of the whole site. Some sites such as Ebay, CNN and the Smithsonian don't have a tagline because they are so well known, they don't need one.
Keeping a balance of space is also important, not too much but never too little rendering it cluttered and not worthy of staying for more than a couple seconds.

Week 3 Reading

In chapter six of the book, Don't Make Me Think compares navigating a website to navigating through a department store. You walk in the door, find the section of the item you want, and find your product from there. If you are unable to find your desired product, you are likely to leave and never come back.
The same goes for web surfing. If it is impossible or even mildly difficult to navigate your site, your user is not likely to ever want to come back again.
Instead of having a clerk to ask about what you want, some websites offer a search bar usually located on the top of the screen to help find what you want.
Wanting to use the search bar usually depends on how big of a rush the user is and whether or not they want to try and navigate the site.
One major difference in department stores and websites is that when inside a store, you usually have a good sense of how big it is and how difficult or easy it's going to be to navigate. Websites can contain 17,000 separate pages that you will probably never know exist.
Some sites try to label their search bar with something else such as 'quick find'.
That confuses people because they are searching for the word, 'search' or 'go'
A logo allows the user to know what site it is that they're on, and an arrow or marker next to the section you're on keeps the viewer knowing where it is that they are. It's just like a directory with a 'you are here' dot on it.
Sites about navigation:

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/30-examples-of-clean-and-minimal-website-navigation


http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/04/showcase-of-modern-navigation-design-trends/

http://www.eastonmass.net/tullis/WebsiteNavigation/WebsiteNavigationPaper.htm

Websites with good navigation
You'll always know that you're on the site because of the red bar and logo at the top, despite it's millions (probably) of different pages...
Netflix

This site directs you to other sites that it thinks you may enjoy, but there is always a bar at the top of the screen to let you know you're using stumpleupon...
stumbleupon

Just like everything apple does, their site is brilliant.
Easy to use and navigate.
apple

Preliminary Critique Portfolio Website

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Week 2 Reading

With people's short attention span, sites need to be designed for scanning, not for reading. There are five things to make this easy.
Create a visual hierarchy, take advantage of conventions, break pages up into clearly definable areas, define what is and isn't clickable and minimize noise.
Creating hierarchy gives emphasis to the most important things by making them bigger, a different color or more defined. Noticing when a visual hierarchy has been placed takes practice for we see it daily and never think much of it.

Conventions give meaning to things we see daily such as a news paper. What is large is usually the headline and the following copy is the details that the headline summed up. Whatever falls underneath a picture is usually describing the photo above. Nobody ever taught us this, it is what we have gathered from previous experiences and basic knowledge. On the web, conventions are also very present, like lists of links in blue and body, like a newspaper. When trying to be inventive and doing something new on the web, one must make sure that everything is evident in purpose and functional.

Some pages become stressful on the mind when decisions are not clear. Every like should not make the viewer worry whether or not they make the right decision.
Body copy is often full of what the author calls 'happy talk' where the writer is throwing out useless information such as a welcome paragraph or instructions to do the most basic thing. Happy talk needs to go away and be replaced with self explanatory links and directions.




http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/9-essential-principles-for-good-web-design/


http://gdbasics.com/index.php?s=hierarchy

http://www.aiga.org/webinar-responsive-web-design/

Website

 

Shown is the most basic design for the interface of my personal webpage. The links and header are shown, along with the overall page look and feel. Critique is welcomed and expected. 

Preliminary Interface Sketches

Concept Statement:

A list of all users that may visit my site:
        • Perspective clients
        • People interested in the work I create

What will each of those users want to see in order to enjoy their visit to my site?

        • An appealing website design and interface
        • My portfolio work
        • A resumé and contact information

Intended audience:

        • Clients, Employers
        • People interested in Graphic Design

What I need to inform and persuade of:

Promote my: Myself, my artwork

Goals of the site are: Easy to understand and appealing

My ultimate message/philosophy: Work needs to be appropriate and impressive, site needs to be to par with my portfolio work.

What is the story I am telling? My artistic journey

Assets I need to persuade the user:

        • I have a developed style in my work but also am flexable
        • I think outside the box
        • I am very passionate about my work
        • I am easily contacted for anything

For the purpose of structuring my website portfolio pages, I will list the categories of work I will show:

        • Branding
        • Advertisents
        • Web
        • llustrations