CHAPTER 13 SUMMARY
Chapter 13's goals were to identify and distinguish effective electronic communication.
This chapter dealt w/ different aspects of design and multimedia of online electronic communication. (i.e. websites and electronic resources) The chapter analyzed web page design, described the iterative design process, and explained key aspects of information architecture.
Designers and users both see electronic communication as interactive and non linear, virtual and open, complex and dynamic. People access electronic information services through the internet, online with a PC and a variety of types of software. People use handheld PDA's store adresses, browse headlines, and keep calendars. Accessibility depends on a users memory, bandwidth, and connectivity. Designers must account for differences in screen size for handheld and wireless devices.
The world wide web is comprised of networks of servers and users computers that exchange resources using internet protocols. Sophisticated interactive environments require the server to share resources with the client the same way designers interact with users. Users can access websites through their URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Design components and elements to consider are
screen/page size: How much text can a reader see at one time? Larger screens see more. reading on a monitor reduces the users spacial awareness of the document.
legibility: How easy is it to read whats on the screen? Font, background, and text color, also visual cues like underline, boldface, and italics.
responsiveness: How quickly should a system respond to a users reactions? If the response time is 0.1 seconds or less it seems instantaneous to suers, and they will stay focused if the response time is no more than 1 second. Typically people become distracted if the response time is longer than 10 seconds.
navigation: How easily can people navigate a website? How easily can readers move through and locate places on the text? Web users are influenced by colors, links, backgrounds, images, and icons, even with navigation aids getting lost is easier electronically than on paper.
equipment and services: How much are readers constrained by phisical realities? Even though fast modems and higher bandwidths are available the modems and lines used by most people are too slow for decent response times.
Consider empowerment of the author through empowerment of the reader. Consideration of link sequences and navigation aids is imporant. Links should have additional links that refine the directions purpose and offer multiple equally productive paths based on the users needs.
Some principals and practices of effective design include information architecture (The framework and structure of the content), page/screen designs, and content. The importance of information architecture is to organize the information. A site map is like a blueprint of a construction site. It expresses the layout and the design of the entire site and internal relationships. The site map categorizes information available to users. The relationships between categories of information are then established. Pathways to information are created based on judgements and user testing. Points of interaction are established this is why functions and forms are included.
A few generic organization schemes are
Heirarchal structure: The main menu provides access to sections and then sub-sections like a pyramid scheme.
Sequential structure: Sequential structure designers exert more control over paths users can take in a prescribed order. (i.e. take a follow through instructional guide pg.1 -> pg.2 -> pg.3
Interlinked structure: Creates multiple relationships on many pages and allows increased flexibility.
Structure on demand: Structures contain static elements and custom responses to users inputs. Here the designer/user interaction is incredibly complex and the site forms a response to a user query or input.
The last point of the chapter is the importance of labeling information. Labeling information is essential, and it must be in a way that best allows users to find the resources they need. Labels include page titles, menu items, links, headings, buttons, and controls.
8 comments:
Electronic communication is so common and used frequently in today’s world. This is why it is important to for the designers of electronic communication to play a vital role. It stated in the book even though the user and the designer have different objectives in electronic communication, they still have three things about electronic communication in common. These three things were interactive and nonlinear, virtual and open, and complex and dynamic.
Another thing the book focused on was the designer’s obligation to meet the needs of the audience. There were several things listed in the book that the designers take into consideration on page 475. I personally hate reading a whole bunch of information on the computer screen, so if the designer focuses on “screen and page size and legibility”, then it makes it more pleasant for me to read.
Chapter 13 talks about designing electronic communication. Electronic communication is seen as virtual and open, interactive and nonlinear, and complex and dynamic. PDAs and PCs have become increasing equipments used for electronic communication. Web designes like html and web page designers have been very helpful in the electronic communication growth. I have tried html before but wasn't good with it. Good job on the chapter summary.
While living in a world that is technologically advancing every second, it is extremely important to be enlightened in these areas. Throughout this class I myself have struggled with getting assignments to correctly work out of the dropbox. I really have no idea but have experience in these struggles. Overall it was a good chapter that informs us of the technological advances we are currently living within.
This chapter is focused once again on today's world and the design of electronic devices that we use to communicate with eachother. I use alot of these devices everyday, especially for class. So when these devices are designed it must have the consumer or user in mind when doing so.
When reading this chapter I immediately thought of my friends, who are all are graphic designers. Pretty much every day I hear them complain about the very things discussed in this chapter. One of my friends specializes in web construction, while the majority of the others are illustrators. The friend who does web reguglary discusses how he thinks a good majority of older websites are constructed horribly. He claims that he is really surprised by how innefective they can be, especially when not done by a professional. I can sympathsize with my friend and see 100% where he is coming from. Electronic communication is a very essential part of communication but is often overlooked.
I found this chapter to be extremely informational. I thought Burnett did a really good job of simplifying and explaining the important and interesting parts of the internet. I am still a little confused on how the create a document so it is compatible for a PDA and/or cell phone. I wish that Burnett would have shown how a single web page is shown on a PDA and a cell phone compared to a PC screen.
The topics in this chapter are some of my favorites when it comes to types of electronic communication. When first learning about designing web pages, I was so excited-there were so many possibilities! Soon I learned that some of these options had to be re-designed or cut out completely due to clarity of design or accessibility. As the chapter points out, users will have varying types of computers, connection speed/type, bandwidth etc. Load times and navigation are two elements that if not designed well, can make or break your site. How many times have you been to a site only to leave it soon after because the navigation is poor or the page(s) take too long to load? I think site maps are a good fail safe to have to possibly prevent this from happening. Even if someone gets frustrated (either from poor design or there own error) they can consult the site map to try and find what they need. I was most interested in the organizational schemes the chapter presented...I will keep these in my 'bag of tricks' for future use!
Electric communication is becoming our primary means of communication. Twenty years ago almost no information was transferred electronically. With the booming of this new era, it is very important that we know and understand how to use electronics to be successful. Good review.
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