web sense... use commonsense

No matter how attractive a site’s design, if it isn’t practical, it’s not doing its job. Design for the screen involves a new set of requirements to deal with and pitfalls to avoid.

• Keep graphics files small. Cyberspace has the unique distinction of being the first medium where you can actually bore your readers by being too exciting. Design for the World Wide Web is a balancing act between the graphic “wow” and the real-time “now”. The more graphically intense a site, the longer it can take to download. The longer it takes, the higher the probability that the visitor will leave before it’s done.
  
  
• On intranets, smaller file sizes can help make the system run faster with less overhead. Performance means productivity.
  
  
• Keep text files small. Text files rarely need to be longer than 10K. Instead, they should be broken into logical chunks and linked. If a home page doesn’t load quickly, visitors can lose interest and jump elsewhere.
  
  
• Design for easy reading. Don’t trade readability for style. Make your backgrounds as light as possible (white or pastels). If you use a background image, keep the action on the side, out of the way of the text, or make it very light, low contrast, and nondithered. Use black backgrounds only on pages with large text, such as headings, then switch to dark text on a light background for pages with “normal” size text.
  
  
• Include contact information on every page! Web readers often want or need to contact the people who created and run the Web sites — often to ask you more information about your products or services. It’s important to include your company name, address, e-mail address, and your phone and fax numbers on every page. If you don’t want people calling, include your email and mailing address at the very least. Why? Because people often save pages to disk, or print them. If you don't include this information, chances are good they won’t be able to contact you, or find your site again to get that contact information.
  
  
• Every page should have the site’s main URL included, usually at the end of the page. This helps users return to the page (if they've saved it to disk and want to go back to your site later) and it ensures that when the page is printed, readers still know where the page is from.
  
  
• Keep your site fresh. Unlike printed matter, a website is not a one-time project — it’s an ongoing one. Be prepared to update your site, at least once a month, adding new information, discarding anything out-of-date.
  
  
• Repeat visitors are always desired, so give them something to come back for. Try to include a “hook”: a service or current information tied to your expertise that will bring users back to your site regularly.
  
  
• Be generous. The web is no place for skimpy “capsule” information. The more detail you provide, the more of a service you offer, and the more reason you give people to visit your site. Keep paragraphs short and use bullets where possible.
  
  
• Be backward compatible. Using cutting edge technology can exclude readers. Many if not most users will be at least one generation behind, so don't shut them out.
  

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