Datasheet

In Figure 1-7, we’ve settled upon a rather traditional two-column layout for the wireframe. Most of our
content categories have translated into discrete areas on the page, placed according to the amount of
visual weight we need to allot them in our layout. For example, the client’s logo has been placed at the
top of the wireframe, in order to maximize the visibility of the WebMag 5000 brand. The one content cate-
gory that “straddles” the page layout is the site’s navigation. While primary and secondary navigation
have been placed immediately below the logo to facilitate easy navigation, the “global” navigation has
been relegated to the footer of the page. While this might indicate to some users that it is perhaps the
least important area of the page, we decided to position it at the bottom in the hopes that its consistent
placement would enable users to find it more easily.
Figure 1-7: The finished wireframe, ready for a design to be hung upon it
The rest of the groupings play out largely as you might expect. The article’s content area is of primary
interest to the site’s users, so that has been given the most weight on the page. In the right-hand column,
many of the “related content” information has been stored to give it the most visibility, while remaining
subordinate to the primary content area. The author’s name and the article categories have been placed
in a block named “About This Article.” Other related articles have been moved into a separate area
immediately below. The advertising banner is placed in the sidebar to give it maximum visibility with-
out detracting from the content as a whole.
So, ultimately, the architecture dictated by the wireframe should reflect the needs of both your client and
your users; the decisions we’ve made in this example wireframe might not be appropriate for your site
20
Chapter 1
03_588338 ch01.qxd 6/22/05 11:18 AM Page 20