website usability basics

1st impressions: professionalism • quality

demonstrate credibility & competence

project professionalism and quality

convey branded identity

send congruent marketing message, tone, editorial style

engage target audience beginning on first page

create an authoritative online presence

underline hyperlinks within paragraphical content, etc.

keep your site free of unnecessary items and annoyances

if in doubt, throw it out - less is more in many instances;

ensure functional & navigable without javascript | flash

execute cross browser compatibility tests for current versions of:

firefox

safari

chrome

opera

ie

address previous ie bugs with 'if ie6 below" css entry

ensure site renders properly on:

. . . pc desktops & laptops, netbooks

. . . . mac computers & iPhones

. . . . .portable tablets, phones, and iPads

. . . . . .mobile devices & smartphones

invest in & maintain professional, custom web presence

skip pre-fab templates & nephew designers

skip automatic "play" settings of audio and video files

skip flash & required "click to enter" homepages

content & data

delivery | presentation | clarity

succinctly convey the exact nature and purpose of your website

design, write, & focus on site visitor's needs and interests

provide client-centric solutions tailored to visitor agenda

fulfill user expectations for info, services, products, or effect

give generously! offer free, accessible info & resources

provide useful knowledge & demonstrative graphics or diagrams

establish a niche and demonstrate your expertise

clarify exact focal point and topic of each page

categorize website content into small chunks of subtopics

clearly depict topics subjects with descriptive headers

format easy to scan onpage content to facilitate perusal

allocate white space with a focus on monetization & critical info

maintain a clutter free site

strategically use white space to draw focus

systematically engineer successful site paths to elicit conversion

skip unnecessary user registration requirements

skip marketing tactics & sales pitches

unrestrict access to product pages

replace mundane or shallow content

ensure political correctness

consistently identify or describe links and download files

sympbolize pdf, word, text, cvs files

identify media such as audio, podcast, video, ebooks, slides

label zip, tar and executable installers

differentiate internal vs. external links

text & typography

legibility • clarity

use a consistent font style, color, and size

minimize entire word or phrase capitalization

substitute a small cap font variant for large capitalized:

. . . hierarchal headings

. . . . main category titles

. . . . . stylized text elements

skip tacky & distracting blinking, gaudy text styles

enhance legibility of site's main content with:

. . . dark font on white background

minimize use of dark backgrounds for textual content areas

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media

graphics • audio • video • slides • galleries

respect site visitors' control over own computing environment

skip automatic "play" settings of audio and video files

offer music and movies on demand only

offer full controls to play and pause media

clearly describe play, next, submit buttons or text excerpts

use descriptors such as [ "click here to view tutorial on...."], etc.

invest in a professionally designed logo

theme print brochures, stationery, letterhead

adhere to high quality, relevant, and purposeful graphics:

implement images that serve a demonstrative purpose

images should enhance overall quality and usefulness of website

elements that don't contribute to objectives thus detract and dilute

when in doubt, throw it out

86 outdated, cheap clipart, arrows, buttons, and clutter

skip "under construction" graphics, phrases, or place holders

account for and reconcile missing or incomplete content

launch your site and new webpage additions only when complete

ensure "first impression" content readiness

spell check, browser test, proof, reproof

apply overall political correctness

website repair or site redesign?

fix or start over?

is your website in need of repair and polish?

is your company making a strong professional impact ?

Is your website far better than your competitors' sites?

It should be...

restore or rebuild?

is your site outstanding? by any measure?

It should be...and San Diego Web Design Studio can provide an efficient and sensible plan that makes the best use of current resources. We accommodate most reasonable and even limited budgetary constraints, and strive to convert your website into a catalytic marketing hub that revamps and modernizes your branding and professional image impact...your competitors won't be too happy, but you will!

Web Re-Design or Website Repair? Certain website issues posing obstacles to w3c validation, if existent, may be rectifiable by modification, or "website repair". Sitewide, overall quality problems, and structural impediments such as sites built entirely in tables, frames, flash, or frontpage typically call for website redesign and reprogramming. We offer very reasonable website redesign and repair rates.

*Note: a website's navigation is the spine, or backbone, of the entire site...keep in mind, it's possible for a site with good navigation to still be an awful site, yet impossible for an otherwise attractive site with awful navigation to qualify as "good"...poor navigation equates to a poor site, period

Sites consisting of poor navigation, as well as outdated and unprofessional sites, generally benefit most from a sitewide rebuild. Also, websites weighed down and repressed with excessive onpage scripting, heavy inline code and style markup, usually require a web page redesign.

If you would like more information on improving your company's professional image and search engine performance, please call us anytime at 619.504.0450 , or contact us via the web by eMail. For your convenience, a quick contact form is available for simple online inquiries.

kaizen

Kaizen: Japanese: "improvement" or "change for the better"

* a note about style

The guidelines listed above are general in nature; your industry and demographic market audience will determine the degree of style, creativity, and formality / informality most appropriate; this website, representing a creative service, bends the style and continuity rules on select pages - just as professional attire for a banker varies drastically from what a musician or artist might be expected to wear, some onsite punctuation and writing styles are purposefully "informal". Especially true with use of lowercase lettering.

Summary

call 619.504.0450

We apply a professional project management approach to developing custom websites. Adherence to a formal web design process assures an intelligent and strategically engineered final product that meets your needs, budget, and goals.

Most importantly, html5 finally eliminates the need for various DocType Definitions, and supports dynamic interactivity such as Canvas drawing and dynamic presentations in pure, valid markup.

html5: our standards...validated per w3c!