Shafeeg Karadsheh
Russell Acar - Section 501
What is Web Design?
Web Design is almost like an art. It is the design of information and services over the Internet. Luckily for businesses and customers the information and services provided are in done so through the World Wide Web (WWW). As I mentioned earlier Web design is a form of art, meaning that art and organization are needed to form customized Web pages to fit a particular business’ needs. Services for Web design can be accomplished in a variety of ways: professionally through a Web designer, created through hypertext mark-up language, JavaScript, Dreamweaver, and Microsoft FrontPage as well as other “What you see is what you get” {WYSIWYG) editors or languages.
Web sites have progressed to a new level of sophistication. They have a ability to track and store usage patterns and allow use for of this information in the development of advertisement and focus for both the Web page and their connected database (Mendelson, 98).There has been a development of dynamic Web sites because static Web pages were becoming, in a way, an older style. The new trends of Web design require more interactive and exciting ways to interest the user in the Web page. Web sites must also be able to provide companies with the most up-to-date information or data that is graphically appealing, yet will not leave any uncertainty or vague impressions on the consumers part. One way that companies have been working on making Web pages more interactive is enhancing methods that they already have created. For example, dynamic hypertext mark-up language (DHTML) was created for the use of dynamic sites, such as Java applets and ActiveX. These forms have been recognized as means of maintaining standard equality throughout the development process.
Early in the process, developers found out that sites needed to produce targeted material to remind the person entering the site about their use of the Web and a level of reasoning for its application. They needed to do something necessary to motivate individuals to come back and revisit the site. Important to the success of the dynamic Web site is that people will not only return to the site and access new ads and changed information, but will also visit the referenced Web sites, and this is the goal (Tebbe, 54).
Precautions, you ask?
There are precautions that definitely must be taken care of in the process of Web design. Number one would have to be copyrights and patents. One cannot build a Web site purely of images, icons, and text from other Web sites. Lawsuits can be filed at a very costly expense. The “rip-offs” idea is not taken lightly in a court of law because it is a form of plagiarism. In 1997, Jonathan Wells from Salt Lake City, Utah, was brought to a court of law and lost a settlement to McDonalds for 2.7 million dollars, leaving him bankrupt for using two consecutive McDonald’s golden arches to represent his company MURMUR Electronics (PC Magazine, ’97). Unfortunately for Jonathan, he placed his site on the Web and was discovered by a McDonald’s corporate employee. The moral to the story is to be original when creating a site. By doing this, you can minimize the chance of possibly losing a potentially successful business that could lead to millions.
Another precaution that should be taken is security. There are hackers who will override system security and transfer funds from one account to another. Also, corruption of systems is very not unlikely to occur as the company’s business increases. The site should be designed to have backup systems or even be as simple as to have back-up files. As I mentioned earlier, the more successful the business the higher the cost that the company will suffer.
Business/ Marketing Aspect
The major advantage of Web design is that it allows a company to expand business internationally. If your Web page maintains a attractive appearance, it will lead to second, third, and potentially, regular visits. Businesses acquire goods from other businesses, as well as consumers acquire goods from businesses. Interactions vary from business to business (B2B), or business to consumer (B2C). The concept is as simple as it sounds. The more complicated the site, as far as connections to databases and information systems, the better the business will be at keeping records. This will lead to yearly estimates on sales and evaluations of the overall competition. Then judgments can be made on how to better improve the in oncoming year. Without an appealing site, a company would never approach any of these positive financial aspects (Mendelson,102).
From the marketing aspect, Web design is the socket for the plug. Consumers do not want a Web site that requires an extremely long wait to load. A consumer will simply exit the page and find a rival of the company simply because of loading time. The main page is the most important page because it will decide whether the consumer moves on to a following link or simply exits. As far as linking pages are concerned, each linking page must be just as appealing or even more as the one that precedes it. Products or services should be presented as appealing as possible. So the design of a Web page should be just as thought out as a commercial that would potentially be put on television.
The Future of Web Design… and BEYOND!!!
As far as what is to come, only better. The development of dynamic Web sites appears to be the wave of the future and fewer and fewer text-only sites are appearing on the Internet. Though the layout of the Web site itself is imperative to attracting hits to the site. This is not the only aspect that has changed in Web site development in recent years. The focus on databases as a component of Web site interactivity is also a major element that has transformed the focus of Web site developers. It is evident that the continued changes in the industry will focus on increasing the interactivity in Web sites and improving the progression of dynamic Web sites in general. Over the last few years, the development of a number of advanced programs to support the creation of more complex Web sites has enhanced the process of dynamic site development. Hopefully soon there will be a program that can support any kind of browser and possibly even require fewer waiting periods for the user. Who knows? With the technology out there maybe it can be interactive through a monitor. Web design is a booming career field that pays well and is certain to attract young “hotshots” out of college with an artistic ability to design the Web. Maybe there will be programs developed that will surpass the use of databases connected to Web sites that are incorruptible, high-powered, and maintenance free. These are all very realistic possibilities that the future of Web design is very capable of bringing to this highly technological world of ours now and beyond.
InfoWorld, (1998): January, pp. 58F(1).
Mantelo, Herald “Web Design Techniques” IT World (1998): December 3, Page 13.
Mendelson, Edward. “Grand designs.” PC Magazine, (1997): March 4, pp. 100.
Tebbe, Mark. “Surf’s over: here comes the big wave.”
PC Week, (1996): November 18, pp.