Operation Manual

Web Site Design and Construction 29
Don’t assume that your existing content is going to satisfy Web visitors
before it’s been enhanced in various ways. Quite often, traditional
content needs to be “massaged” in order to translate successfully to the
computer screen. It’s a lot like adding motivational bells and whistles
to an instructional program for reluctant learners. In the early days of
the Internet, text and hypertext links were sufficient to keep scientist-
users entertained and enlightened. While one can certainly still design
elegant screens to display text-only material, one can’t turn back the
clock. Today, users expect to see pictures (or at least graphic elements),
colors, buttons, and other interface attributes. They certainly don’t want
to become bored or get lost. Your goal should be to minimize any
negative first reactions to your site, while maximizing the rewards for
each user.
Site structure
It probably goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that before
starting a site from scratch, you should have mapped out on paper
approximately how many pages you’ll need, what the basic
composition will look like, and how the pages will be linked together.
Unlike a magazine or newsletter, a Web site doesn’t depend on a linear
page sequence. It makes more sense to think of your site in spatial
terms, with a structure like that of a museum people will explore. You
can generally assume that visitors will come in through the front door
(the Home page)—but where they go after that depends on the links
you’ve provided. These navigation pathways are like corridors that
connect the various rooms of the museum. It’s up to you as the
“architect” to develop a sensible arrangement of pages and links so that
visitors can find their way around easily, without getting lost.
Unlike the museum in our analogy, the “structure” of a Web site has
nothing to do with its physical layout, or where pages are stored.
Rather, it’s a way of logically arranging the content on the site so that
visitors have an easier time navigating through it. One of the most
useful organizing principles—which WebPlus strongly reinforces—is
an “inverted tree” structure that starts with the Home page and then
branches out to other pages. To the visitor navigating your site, this
arrangement presents your content in a familiar, hierarchical way,
structured into sections and levels.