Website Design
Website design is the
design subactivity that consists of
the cohesive collection of tasks involving all aspects of
reusing, producing, and maintaining the design of a single
website of webpages.
The typical goals of website design are to design a website
that will:
Be easy to learn and use.
Be attractive and pleasing to use.
Enable its users to efficiently perform their
duties.
Be easy to maintain.
The typical objectives of website design are to design
the:
Metaphors, themes, and styles of the website.
Structure of the website.
Navigation of the website.
Conventions constraining the website.
Examples of website design include:
Design of an eMarketplace website.
Design of an informational website.
Website design typically may begin when the following
preconditions hold:
Website design is typically complete when the following
postconditions hold:
The website design is documented in the Human Interface
Design Document which has:
Passed evaluation.
Been accepted by the customer.
Been delivered to the customer.
Website design typically involves the following producers
performing the following design tasks in an iterative,
incremental, and parallel manner:
User Experience Team , which performs:
Design
Reuse
Reuse website design conventions.
Design
Production :
Determine Website Metaphors (organizational, visual,
functional)
Determine Website Themes
Develop Site Map:
For each relevant requirement, identify the one or
more webpage(s) needed to meet the functional
requirment.
Identify common webpages based on work flow.
Organize webpages both structurally (e.g., by
inheritance) and navigationally (e.g., via
workflow).
Produce graphical or textual site map
Develop Navigation Approach (Global and Local)
Develop the website and webpage conventions:
Develop Webpage Layouts:
Layout Grid(s)
Frames (number, contents, location)
Tables
Determine the kinds, purposes, formats, and
locations of menus.
Determine the standard colors, fonts, and placement
of all common elements (e.g., buttons, menu items,
messages, pop-up windows, multimedia).
Produce the cascading style sheets (CSSs).
Determine the standard event behaviors (e.g.
approaches to mouse-over).
Design Documentation :
Website design is typically performed using the following
environment(s) and associated tools:
Development Environment :
Whiteboards
Paper Prototypes
Camera and props
Graphic Design Tools (e.g., Photoshop, Visio)
Typography Tools (e.g., Illustrator)
Animation Tools (e.g., GIF Animator, GIFmation)
Audio Tools
Video Tools
HTML, XML, and CSS Editors
HTML, XML, and CSS Validators
Link Checkers
Browser (for debugging)
Webpage design typically results in the production of the
following
design
work products :
Website design tasks are typically performed during the
following phases:
