Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Eric Ladd
ISBN: 078971759x
Publication Date: 11/01/98

Structuring Information

Audience characteristics and your own objectives for creating a site are the human factors that go into Web-site design. As you begin to focus on the site itself, you will discover that two other factors are vying for a visitor’s attention: the information you’re presenting and the graphics look of the site. Just as you had to strike a balance between audience characteristics and your objectives, you need to do the same for these site-related factors.

Two approaches for structuring content have emerged during the Web’s short history: the drill-down structure (also known as the layered structure) and the flat structure.

The Drill-Down Structure

Most early Web sites made use of the drill-down structure. A drill-down structure means that the information in the site is layered several levels beneath the home page of the site, and users must drill down through those layers to see it. The idea is much like having to navigate down through several folders and subfolders to find a desired file in Windows 98 or Macintosh (or down through several directories and subdirectories to find a desired file in DOS or in a UNIX system). Yahoo! uses this structure on its site (see Figure 1.5). The drilling down occurs as you move from general to specific topics.

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NOTE:  One advantage of the drill-down approach for site administrators is that they can interpret the number of levels a visitor drills down through as a measure of the visitor’s interest in the site’s content.

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FIGURE 1.5  You drill down through several more general topics as you key in on a specific topic on Yahoo!’s site.

The drill-down approach provided a systematic way to structure content on early sites, but users quickly grew tired of plowing through so many levels to get the information they wanted and then navigating back up through the levels to move on to another part of the site. User feedback about so much layering led designers to consider different techniques. The flat structure emerged from these deliberations.

The Flat Structure

The flat structure isn’t so much a structure of its own as it is a lessening of the drill-down approach. Every site will probably have one or two levels of drill down (from the home page to any subordinate page, for example), but you can seek to minimize the number of layers so that fewer barriers exist between users and the information they want. Two ways to do this are

•  Limit the number of subdirectories you use. You are more likely to end up with a drill-down structure if you use a lot of subdirectories (or subfolders) on your server to store and organize your HTML documents. Try to keep your documents up as close to the root level as you can.

	Draw out a map of your site hierarchy in outline form and try to identify places where you can reduce the number of information layers.

•  Increase navigation options. Give users access to as much as possible on every page. Figure 1.6 shows the AltaVista home page, which makes available a list of links to all major areas of the site.

FIGURE 1.6  Providing several navigation options helps visitors to avoid having to drill through several layers to get the information they want.

Developing a Look

A sharp graphical look is important to your site as well. Often it is the graphics that hook visitors and influence them to stop and read your content. Additionally, a consistent look provides a unique identity for the site.

The general rule you should remember when you develop a look and feel is that it should enhance the delivery of your message without overpowering it. A well-done look and feel initially draws in users and then fades into the background as the users move around within the site. If you throw in too much glitz, you run the risk of detracting from what you really want to get across.

The next four sections share some other design ideologies to keep in mind as you develop a look and feel for your site.

Less Is Often More

The fact that browsers can display images does not justify heaping a whole bunch of them on to all your pages to create a high-impact look. Don’t forget that some users have text-only browsers, and others have slow connections. These people will not have the ability or the patience to view a site that relies heavily on a lot of graphics for its look.

Try to keep the number of graphics you use to a minimum. Graphics for logos and navigation are almost essential, but beyond that, give careful consideration to the images you put in your pages. Make sure they add value to the site by enhancing the presentation of your content.

	After you decide on a set of images to use, continue to use the same images throughout the site. This helps promote a consistent look. Additionally, after the images are stored in users’ caches, users spend less time waiting for pages to download.

Backgrounds

A good background should stay exactly there—in the background. If a background is so obtrusive that it interferes with presentation of content in the foreground, you are less likely to get your point across.

Many sites these days have gone to a plain white background. Although this may seem rather ordinary, it supports a clean and professional look that many users appreciate, and it keeps download times to a minimum (see Figure 1.7).

FIGURE 1.7  Lucent Technologies portrays a highly professional image, thanks, in part, to a clean, white page background.

HTML supports the use of other colors as backgrounds. If you choose a color other than white, you need to make sure that sufficient contrast exists between the background color and all elements in the foreground. If you change the background color to black, for example, you also need to change the color of your body text. If you don’t, you will have black text on a black background and your content will be invisible!