Web Site Users

Your users will use different hardware and software.
The important thing is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
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What Monitors Do They Have?
Remember that not everyone on the Web has the same monitor as you have. If you design your Web pages to be displayed on a monitor with a 1024x768 resolution, some of your visitors with lower resolution monitors (like 640x480) might have problems reading your pages.
Some users still have low resolution 640x480 monitors, but the trend is moving towards 800x600 as the low resolution standard. This Web site is designed to be best viewed on 800x600 or better resolution.
If you are one of those developers with a sophisticated monitor (1600x1200?), make sure you test the display of your Web pages on different monitors with lower resolutions.
One wise thing to do when designing the layout of Web pages is to let a section of each page be of variable size to fit the size of a large or small resolution monitor.
Take a look at our browser statistics to see the trends in monitor development.
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What Browsers Do They Use?
Both of the two major Internet browsers (Netscape and Microsoft) have their own specialties and quirks that you must consider when designing your Web pages.
If you are serious about your Web site, don't forget to test every page with different types of browsers.
The most popular browsers today are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
Additionally, some of your visitors might use text only browsers, such as Lynx, or they might visit your site from an online service like AOL, CompuServe or Prodigy. Some of these browsers might not display your Web pages as well as you think.
One wise thing to do when designing Web pages is to use strict, formal and correct HTML (or XHTML). Strict and correct coding will always help a browser to display your pages correctly.
Take a look at our browser statistics to see the trends in browser development.
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What Plug-Ins Do They Have?
Some elements in your Web pages, like sound and video clips or other multimedia content, might require the use of separate programs (helper applications or plug-ins).
Don't use such elements in your Web pages unless you are sure that your visitors have access to the software needed to view them.
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What About Disabilities?
Some people have serious viewing or hearing disabilities. These users might want to visit your Web site.
Some of them will try to read your pages with Braille or speech-based browsers. Remember that all of your visible content is lost if you don't provide them with some text based alternatives for pictures and other graphic elements.
Designing Web pages for people with disabilities is not an easy thing, but one small thing you can do - at least for people with poor eyesight - is to let your pages use a resizable font size.

Courtsey: http://www.w3schools.com/site/site_users.asp
(This article for learner's purpose only. www.w3schools.com have all rights on this article. If you are using this material for any personal use please follow their Privacy Policy.)

Web Desiging Tips 001

Designing Web sites needs careful thinking and a lot of planning.
The most important thing is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
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Users Are Scanners
If you think a typical user will read the entire content of your Web pages, you are wrong.
No matter how much useful information you put into a Web page, a visitor will only spend a few seconds scanning it before they decide whether to leave it or to stay.
If you want a visitor to read your text, be sure to make your point in the very first sentence of the page. After that you should try to keep them occupied with short paragraphs and interesting new headers all the way down the page.
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Less Is More
Try to keep all sentences as short as possible. Try to keep your paragraphs as short as possible. Try to keep your chapters as short as possible. Try to keep your pages as short as possible.
Use a lot of space between your paragraphs and chapters. Pages overloaded with text will kill your audience.
Don't place too much content on a single page. If you have a lot to say, try to break your information into smaller chunks and place it on different pages. Don't expect any visitor to scroll all the way down to the bottom of a page with thousands of words.
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Navigation
Try to create a navigation structure that is common for all the pages in your Web.
Keep the use of hyperlinks inside your text paragraphs to a minimum. Don't use hyperlinks inside text paragraphs to send your visitors to every random page of your Web. That will destroy the feeling of a consistent navigation structure.
If you must use hyperlinks, add them to the bottom of a paragraph or to the navigation menus of your site.
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Download Speed
A common mistake made by many web designers is to develop a site on a local machine with direct access to the data, or to develop the site over a high-speed Internet connection. Sometimes developers are not aware of the fact that some of their pages take a long time to download.
Internet usability studies tell us that most visitors will leave a Web page that takes more than 7 seconds to download.
Before you publish any content heavy pages, make sure they are tested over a low-speed modem connection. If your pages take a long time to download, you might consider removing some of your graphic or multimedia content.
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Let Your Audience Speak!
Feedback from your users is a very good thing. Your visitors are your "customers". Very often they will give you some valuable wisdom, or advise you, completely free of charge, about what you could have done better.
If you provide a simple way to reach you, you will get a lot of positive input from a lot of people with different skills and knowledge.

The Web Designer Versus the Web Developer: Who is Right?

For some reason, they have the same goals, but can't seem to agree on the right way to achieve them. Your designer swears that you need a super slick interface with all the bells and whistles and lots of vibrant color to draw the user's attention. Your web developer tells you that you need blue underlined text links and a white background at all times because it is more usable. Both want you to have a successful website, and neither can tolerate the other's point of view. So who has the right idea?
The answer is... (drumrolll please)... Can I buy a vowel and get back to you?
Let's explore the minds of these two individuals first to see what makes them tick. After that we should be able to finally answer the age-old question of who is right; the web designer or the web developer. (and by "age-old" I mean "internet age old" which is younger than I am, but I digress)
The mind of a web designer
Web designers see the web differently than most. Hip to design ideology, current with design trends, able to spot low resolution graphics in a single glance, these individuals are responsible for bringing pizzazz to the web. Who else would be able to see tabular data and decide that HTML tables where the perfect way to place graphics on a screen? They have stretched the boundaries of the web's infrastructure and turned it into a true media instead of a simple text-based research tool.
These graphical wizards (at least the good ones) understand form and color theory. They understand the visual aspects of marketing and what drives people to react to visual stimulation. They know what looks good, and how to visually brand your company. They know what looks bad, and will likely tell you ambitiously when they spot it. They understand how sight drives feeling. To make your site look and feel the way it should, the web designer is right.
The mind of a web developer
Web developers see the web the same as everybody else should. (at least in theory) Although at times they might not be able to tell you precisely why something is visually appealing, they sure can elaborate on why something doesn't work properly. Logically the web is a place to attain information as quickly and efficiently as possible. After all, that's why it was created. Web developers think logic, efficiency, functionality.. and maybe design if it doesn't affect the integrity of the data flow diagrams they created in the planning phase of the systems development life cycle.
Accessible and sensible, efficiently coded and highly compatible; websites that web developers produce work. Plain and simple. No time for flashy visuals because the load time will increase. Why design a graphical button when with half the code and one third of the bandwidth you can have a text link that performs the same task? Think of all the money you can save if your site is programmed as efficiently as possible. Logically, a web developer is right.
The answer is... (drumrolll please)...
It depends.
I know, that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but it was either that or "both". Your designer and your developer are both right, although neither will likely admit it. If you own a design studio, or your are in entertainment, chances are good you will be leaning towards the advice of your designer. After all, creativity is more valued in your industry then say, software development. If you are a software development company, you may be leaning towards your web developer's advice because efficient systems are more important to people in your industry.
But what about the average website owner? Maybe you have an online store, a real estate agency, a retail business, you are a member of a virtual community or something else that is not as black and white as a design firm or a development team. The fact of the matter is you have to weigh the options against your company's values and goals to make the appropriate decisions if the designer and the developer ever clash. In all cases your site needs to look good, and in all cases your site needs to function properly. The choice shouldn't ever boil down to one or the other.
This is why there are both web designers and web developers. They are the yin and the yang of building websites. If your company doesn't have a little of both involved in creating or maintaining your website, you may have some unbalanced karma with your click throughs and conversions.

Good Web Design and Good Web Designers

For some it's the look, for some it's the usability, for some it's the results. Good web design is a lot of things to a lot of people. Any way you slice it good web design is what it is. Same goes for a good web designer. To be a good web designer you need to produce good web designs, but you also need to be accountable and accessible.
So what signifies good web design or good web designers? I think I will take a page out of Jeff Foxworthy's routine to try and explain. Let's start with good web design.
• If your site looks clean and professional,it might be good web design.
• If your site generates lots of sales, it might be good web design.
• If your site drives a lot of traffic, it might be good web design.
• If your site is easy to use, it might be good web design.
• If people fill out feedback forms just to tell you they like your website, it might be good web design.
• If other people in your industry ask you who does your website, it might be good web design.
• If your website evokes the general feel or emotion you intended it to, it might be good web design.
• If you find a lot of people link to your site without you asking them to, it might be good web design.
• If your site loads quickly, it might be good web design.
• If your website looks the same on every computer you view it on, it might be good web design.
• If you visit your website sometimes just to look at it and you find yourself spending a few minutes before you even click anything, it might be good web design.
• If you are happy with your website, it might be good web design. Now what about those designers? I'm sure you hear a lot of horror stories about the bunch, so let's see if we can define what makes a good web designer, again using the Jeff Foxworthy formula.
• If your designer produces good web designs, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer returns emails and phone calls quickly and consistently, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer is generally concerned about your business' success, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer strives to understand your vision, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer is willing to compromise, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer regularly hits deliverable deadlines, you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer takes the time to explain why things are done instead of just doing things,
you might have a good web designer.
• If your designer is competent and friendly, you might have a good web designer.
So according to Jeff Foxworthy (well, not the real Jeff Foxworthy) there are quite a few attributes that make up a good web design and a good web designer. When choosing a web designer, or signing off on design comps, first ask yourself these questions and you too...
might have a good web design.