Elements of effective design

Rogers, Bakken, & Armstrong believe these elements to be the most important features. 

• ideas & content,
• organization
• language & conventions
• presentation
• technical

Tom March puts the focus on:

• format
• content,
• learning process

Vincent Flanders identifies several keys that make or break a web page.

• accessibility
• usability (especially navigtion)
• graphics (distracting, ugly graphics are a deal breaker)

What do you think?  Let's analyze.

Graphics

March includes graphics under format, Bakken & Armstrong place it in the technical category.  Flanders collects examples of disastrous graphics. Graphics is obviously important to all three evaluators.  Does that make graphic elements the most important measure of webpage quality?  Have you ever found a really good web page without graphics?

Content

Bakken & Armstrong and March have entire categories just for content.  Content is key to most educators.  We are always looking for a way to increase content learning whether directly or incidentally.  Does that make content the second most important feature?

That leaves the learning process for March and organization, language, & presentation for Bakken & Armstrong.  If the process is mixed up or the reader can not follow the organization of the page, read the language, or figure out the presentation, the content and graphics aren't worth much are they?  Ever landed on a foreign language site by accident?  Even with strong graphics it can be difficult or impossible to understand the purpose of the web site.

The importance of any one feature on a site follows the main purpose of the site.  If your purpose is to share student art with the public, then obviously graphics will be more important.  If your purpose is to share student poetry with the public, then organization and format will be more important.  Web design depends on your purpose.

How do we begin?

These sites help educators design effective web pages. Six Tips for Web Design by Tammy Payton guide you through site design for schools.  http://mercury.siec.k12.in.us/west/online/steps.htm Web Page Design for Instruction: Research Based Guidelines by Bonnie Skaalid provides solid theory, examples and resources.  http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/ Web Page Design for Designers, by Joe Gillespie, provides a more technical, business eye view of the designer’s world in plain, easy to understand English.  http://www.wpdfd.com/index.htm WEBalley, by Gerben Hoekstra, will help you design, build, locate tools, locate web space, and upload your web pages like a professional.  http://weballey.net/index.html