Archive for the ‘Web 2.0’ Category
published by Dan in Web 2.0 | Web Development | Website Design | Website Standards
We all know how important the graphical user interface (GUI) is for all websites. Though a website may have excellent content if the user interface is poorly designed users will have an extremely difficult time extracting the information they need or finishing whatever task they were set out to do on that website. The GUI is a factor that largely affects the user satisfaction and as we all know it is the satisfied customer/user that will come back and maybe even spread the news. Because of this GUI is extremely important.
User interface markup languages are of course used to render a site’s GUI. Most user interface markup languages are actually dialects of XML (which I have already briefly touched on in the general purpose languages but will be discussing in greater depth).
to be continued..
published by Dan in CSS | Tools & Resources | Web 2.0 | Web Technology
With all these iPhone news and media coverage in the past week, let’s take a little time to focus on how this will affect mobile web design, both in the short term and in the long term. iPhone brings to the table what could probably be one of the most advanced Internet browser for mobile devices: iPhone Safari. Although it lacks support for java and flash, Safari brings the desktop experience of browsing the Internet to a mobile device.
The basic premise of how iPhone safari works is that you can view a web site on its entirety without rearranging their content. This way the website as the designer has visualized it, is preserved. To move around the page, you can use Safari’s built-in zooming and panning actions using finger gestures and taps. What this means at the very least is that using Safari for iPhone, you wouldn’t have to worry that your design would be messed up when the the user sees it. Safari also has a strong support for AJAX technologies. This makes it a very able platform to deploy web applications. In fact as of now, this is the only way to deploy “applications” through iPhone. All these advanced features are all good news for the web designers, first because a mobile device browser that has strong standards support is now available for a mobile device, and second, in the long term perspective, safari will be raising the bar for mobile device browsers.
Even if apple only reaches (and not surpass) its goal of capturing 1% of the market share for smart phones, they would have then created a pressure for other mobile device software companies to come up with a competitive browser. And web designers will no longer be limited in creating user experiences that are as enjoyable in the mobile context as they are in the desktop.
published by Dan in Accessibility | Usability | Web 2.0 | Website Design
The web has evolved from the old static pages to one that is rich and dynamic and one that involves a lot of social aspect. The last part, social aspect, has been what’s fueling the phenomenon of what is popularly called the web 2.0. Now, successful website ventures goes beyond the traditional pure content style to a one that involves more interaction with its readers/community. To some extent, this also changes the game of web design.
Designing for communities is a pretty big topic to be discussed in a single post. We will start with why it’s important to incorporate the community aspect in designing websites and what it entails to your design process.
To put simply, a website that was designed with the community in mind encourages more participation and enhances the stickiness to the reader’s attention. Having a community around your website also opens up a good feedback system where you can have a good conversation with your target readers. This will also open up conversations among your readers. It has its advantages as well as some implications.
Since the presence of a community adds a new important factor to a website, the web designer should work hand in hand with the client to ensure that an appropriate design is created anticipating all the consequences of fostering a community. Some design considerations might be reconsidered in a context of a website with a social (community) aspect.
Next post we’ll dwell more on web design and communities.
published by Gary in Accessibility | Blogging | Tools & Resources | Usability | Web 2.0 | Website Design
I often wonder where the web designing is heading. Web 1.0 or the first phase of web designing, or you may call it even the pre-bubble era, is almost gone. At least in the mainstream arena you don’t see those ugly websites with obtrusive popups, ugly banner ads and cryptic navigation schemas. We’re now amidst the mature phase of Web 2.0. Design is not the main obsession now, usability is.
As more and more people all over the world turn to the Internet for reference, entertainment and e-commerce, the focus of stress is continuously shifting towards the user, the person who is going to visit the website, use its content and transact business with the website’s owner. Design — in its much improved form — is still important, but usability and functionality precedes it. This trend is going to continue. With the arrival of Ajax we’ll see faster online applications with greater interactivity. Major websites like Gmail and Yahoo have already implemented Ajax and have made great strides towards improving their interfaces and considerably reducing server calls.
Most of the major browsers, including the notorious Internet Explorer, are eventually embracing web standards in rendering web pages. This is going to make life a lot easier for web designers who often pull their hair trying to make their web pages look the same in all browsers. While designing new websites the designers will have to keep in mind various devices people may use to access their websites. This entails developing websites that can be easily accessible through hand-held devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and pocket media viewers.
This brings me to the accessibility issue. With governments and search engines putting more and more emphasis on how accessible your website is, it is no longer going to be an option. In the hierarchy of web development and design aspects, accessibility is certainly going to manifest before the layout.
There is going to be a marked improvement in the markup as more and more developers and designers are eventually realizing the benefit of adhering to the W3C coding standards. Creating highly interactive websites is going to be a lot easier with the arrival of API’s (application programming interfaces) and SOAP. JavaScript libraries like Prototype, jQuery, script.aculo.us and JASON are going to make it possible for the web applications to behave more and more like desktop applications.
Bandwidth is improving but it is not conducive enough for high-end rich media websites. With faster access and lowering connectivity costs websites are going to be a lot more than web pages. Every web link will be an experience in itself.
0845 838 7448 
