INMA_A01.QXD

According to Chaffey and Wood (2005), the aim of a wireframe will be to:

Integrate consistently available components on the web page (e.g. navigation, search

boxes);

Order and group key types of components together;

Develop a design that will focus the user on to core messages and content;

Make correct use of white space to structure the page;

Develop a page structure that can be easily reused by other web designers.

Common wireframe or template features you may come across are:

Navigation in columns on left or right and at top or bottom;

Header areas and footer areas;

‘Slots’ or ‘portlets’ – these are areas of content such as an article or list of articles

placed in boxes on the screen. Often slots will be dynamically populated from a con-

tent management system;

Slots on the homepage may be used to:

• Summarise the online value proposition


• Show promotions


• Recommend related products


• Feature news, etc.


• Contain ads.

Once analysis has determined the information needs of the site, the site can be

designed. Designis critical to a successful web site since it will determine the quality of

experience users of a site have; if they have a good experience they will return, if not

they will not! A ‘good experience’ is determined by a number of factors such as those

that affect how easy it is to find information: for example, the structure of the site,

menu choices and searching facilities. It is also affected by less tangible factors such as

the graphical design and layout of the site.

Achieving a good design is important before too many web pages are developed since,

if time is taken to design a site, less time will be wasted later when the site is reworked.

Large sites are usually produced by creating templates comprising the graphical and

menu elements to which content is added.

As mentioned previously, design is not solely a paper-based exercise, but needs to be

integrated into the prototyping process. The design should be tested by review with the

client and customer to ensure it is appropriate. The design of site layout, navigation and

structure can be tested in two different ways. First, early designs can be paper-based –

drawn by the designer on large pieces of paper – or ‘mock-ups’ can be produced on

screen using a drawing or paint program. This process is referred to as ‘storyboarding’.

Second, a working, dynamic prototype can be produced in which users can select differ-

ent menu options on-screen that will take them to skeleton pages (minus content) of

different parts of the site.

Since the main reason given in Table 7.6 for returning to a web site is high-quality

content, it is important to determine, through analysis, that the content is correct.

However, the quality of content is determined by more than the text copy. It is impor-

tant to achieve high-quality content through design. To help in this it is useful to

consider the factors that affect quality content. These are shown in Figure 7.8. All are

determined by the quality of the information.

CHAPTER 7· DELIVERING THE ONLINE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Designing the user experience

Design phase

The design phase

defines how the site

will work in the key

areas of web site

structure, navigation

and security.

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