Week 3 Reading and links

Steven Krug’s chapter 6 “Street signs and bread crumbs” is all about navigation. The street signs part of the title primarily deals with site navigation in how a user navigates within a website. How a website is navigated I dependant on whether or not a user is a search first “ user or if the user is more of a “find it myself” user. Search first users locate and target the search function on a homepage as their first priority. They then enter their query information into the search query field in order to locate the information they are looking for as quickly as possible. Depending on the complexity of the site and the complexity of the search, this may be the easiest way to locate information. Users that are “find it myself” users are more dependent on categorized layouts. Layouts may have top bar navigation (sometimes laid out in tabs), sidebar navigation, and lower bar navigation. As a user navigates deeper into a website they need to know where they are incase they need to go back. Breadcrumbs are a way to orient a user by adding a string of text (usually linked to other pages an located at the top of the page in smaller text) that shows the user where they have gone within the site hierarchy. Breadcrumbs are a websites “you are here” locator.

The links below show navigation as well as breadcrumbs as I have clicked into the websites.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Computers/270/cat.html

http://www.soccer.com/Navigation.process?Ne=284&Srp=24&N=4294960675+4294959027+4294960152+285

http://computers.shop.ebay.com/PC-Laptops-Netbooks-/177/i.html?rt=nc&Type=Laptop%252FNotebook&_dmpt=Laptops_Nov05&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

Week 2 Reading

Its seems that one of the main themes in Krug’s “Don’t make me think” book is how users  are just zipping through pages and need information in the easiest manner available to process by scanning. The importance of a good hierarchy can aid users in determining what information is higher level content and what information is lower level content.  Designers can also aid users by creating layouts based on conventions that the user is already familiar with. Conventions like placing logos and home page or navigation buttons in the same location throughout the website creates a familiarity between the user and the site. By placing clear easy to understand choices among selection options, you reduce the amount of time a user spends trying to figure out what choice fits their need. Added needless words, happy talk and pointless instructions become text noise that if properly reduced can increase the impact of information hierarchy because there will be less information trying to compete for the users attention.  

Link to sites related to the reading:

Visual hierarchy-

http://webstyleguide.com/wsg2/page/hierarchy.html

Website conventions –

 http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/wdc/readings/convention.htm

The persuasive power of repetition clarity simplicity-

http://smartalicewebdesign.com/wordpress/navigation/the-persuasive-power-of-repetition-clarity-simplicity/

Moodboard

Thumbnail sketches

Project Statement and Creative Brief

Project Statement

Jesse Diaz is a graphics designer that provides digital illustrations and imagery for the digital arts and web industries. Currently a student of The Art Institute of Seattle Jesse Diaz is underrepresented within the larger graphics arts community. The goal of creating a website is to extend the capacity to generate recognition by allowing easy access to previous work. By creating a well designed an easy to navigate web portfolio Jesse Diaz can easily showcase work and capabilities for future clients and employers.

Creative Brief

Background:

More and more employers are asking for web portfolios in order for quick access to a potential hire’s work.

Target Audiences:

Graphics design firms, Branding agencies, Graphics artist peers, and future clients

Objectives:

Upon seeing this online portfolio, clients and employers should get a sense of a must have or must work with this person.

Obstacles:

Starting from zero and generating a brand and presence

Key benefits:

Access and visibility

Support Statement:

See above project statement

Tone:

Clean, easy to navigate, fresh, clear and concise

Media:

Digital portfolio generated with Iweb, Dreamweaver, and/or Flash

Creative Considerations: Designed towards individuals that have a lot of experience with graphic design as well as non graphic designers

Inspirational websites

I find the following websites to be very inspirational and would like to be able to encompass the feel of each website for the following reasons:
www.hutchhouse.com - I like that this website has different themes that can be selected. Once a user selects a theme, the webpage changes along with some of the content to reflect the theme.
www.blkmtnstudio.com- I like how simple and clean this website looks and functions. It is a flash based website so there is interesting interactivity in the gallery sections. I'm not super jazzed about this interactivity aspect of the site but it is kind of cool.
www.louisbeaudoin.net - This website is also very clean with neutral colors that don't distract the user from the content. This designer is from Canada so the text is in French.

Week 1 Reading

What is most striking in reading the first chapter of Steve Krug’s book ‘’Don’t make me think” is how much of a difference there is in how designers create web pages to be utilized by  users and how they actually get used. Users don’t like to think about processing the information on a page but would rather have the information pre-digested and distilled so that they can find what they are looking for in the shortest amount of time. Rather than trying to decipher creative names for objects, users would rather have obvious names that decrease the likely hood of user error in selections. I don’t know if this can be attributed to laziness but rather the speed at which people go about using the web in their busy schedules. As stated in chapter two, people don’t read pages they scan a web page until they find what looks like what they are searching for. Since users can just back track there is no risk involved in an erroneous selection. Users have become accustomed to information on demand and anything that requires less than instant gratification is less desirable. With a better understanding of user interaction, designers can create web pages to take interaction into account and generate a better user experience.