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2HousePlague · 06-26-2005, 08:36 AM

Web Site Design Principles -- A visual design & architecture primer

My fondness for the Adult Biz is great ? else, why do THIS, HERE. But I am often left scratching my head when I consider some of its pervasive practices.

The object of this discussion is to acquaint readers with Web Site Design Basics. It is written, ostensibly, for the Noob (the Impoverished Noob, to be precise), but I don?t think I?d mind it if a few established, well-paid creators of Adult Web Sites marked some of the points I intend to cover.

Success is hard to argue with ? but I?m gonna try anyway. As we all know, there?s a lot of money made here in Adult ? and certainly, that success owes to great ingenuity, great talent, and an understanding of certain aspects of the Medium found nowhere else. But, I think that Pornography on the Web was so IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE FAIL, that many GOOD practices and SOUND principles from the non-Adult commercial Web were never learned ? because they never had to be. Site Design is, in my opinion, one of those areas where we could do better.

I can already anticipate the indignant cries of ?What the fuck are you talking about, man ? I gets PAID!? ? but, to reiterate, I am not saying money isn?t being made. What I?m saying is that most of the site designs I see out there could do even better, if their designers took into account a few well-tested ideas that they might not have heard of. Specifically, I want to review some of the principles of Usability and Information Architecture ? even a little Visual Design, in those ways where VD for the Web departs meaningfully from the norms of VD for print.

First a definition:

Information Architecture

The organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system.

The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content.

This definition of IA is broader than IA for the Web, because the science of IA predates the Web. Before anyone had ever surfed or even pushed a mouse, Information Architects were concerning themselves with the challenges of joining many types of Information Consumers with Information Caches.

At the most basic (earliest) end of the IA spectrum, consider a book. Today, we couldn?t fathom holding a book in our hands that didn?t have a table of contents and numbered pages. But these are innovations that came much after the basic fact of words printed on a page.

As our ?systems? for information ?storage? and ?retrieval? became more complex, so did the science of IA evolve to incorporate new ?technologies? as they emerged. I deliberately placed the terms ?system?, ?storage?, ?retrieval? and ?technology? in quotes, because I expect most people using or reading those terms today associate them with IT and the computer age. And, even though the expression Information Architecture wasn?t coined until 1976, the science of IA ? by any other name ? is ancient and evident in applications as diverse as urban planning, human resources (staffing), and was the core of the reverse engineering strategy that cracked DNA?s ?filing system?.

This is about the point where I usually apologize for my long-windedness. But it?s also where I provide you with a context for a dump of information that may seem little related to the subject at hand. I?m sorry ? it?s what I do -- lol. I have found that by backing as far away from the Applied Specifics of an idea as you can, you can gain a grasp of it that will allow you to take that idea places no one ever expected.

And now, the abstractions made concrete. In the context of Web Sites, Information Architecture is?

(cont?d. shortly)

2HP

06-26-2005, 08:36 AM
2HousePlague CURATOR Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: the attic Posts: 14,572	Web Site Design Principles -- A visual design & architecture primer My fondness for the Adult Biz is great ? else, why do THIS, HERE. But I am often left scratching my head when I consider some of its pervasive practices. The object of this discussion is to acquaint readers with Web Site Design Basics. It is written, ostensibly, for the Noob (the Impoverished Noob, to be precise), but I don?t think I?d mind it if a few established, well-paid creators of Adult Web Sites marked some of the points I intend to cover. Success is hard to argue with ? but I?m gonna try anyway. As we all know, there?s a lot of money made here in Adult ? and certainly, that success owes to great ingenuity, great talent, and an understanding of certain aspects of the Medium found nowhere else. But, I think that Pornography on the Web was so IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE FAIL, that many GOOD practices and SOUND principles from the non-Adult commercial Web were never learned ? because they never had to be. Site Design is, in my opinion, one of those areas where we could do better. I can already anticipate the indignant cries of ?What the fuck are you talking about, man ? I gets PAID!? ? but, to reiterate, I am not saying money isn?t being made. What I?m saying is that most of the site designs I see out there could do even better, if their designers took into account a few well-tested ideas that they might not have heard of. Specifically, I want to review some of the principles of Usability and Information Architecture ? even a little Visual Design, in those ways where VD for the Web departs meaningfully from the norms of VD for print. First a definition: Information Architecture The organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system. The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content. This definition of IA is broader than IA for the Web, because the science of IA predates the Web. Before anyone had ever surfed or even pushed a mouse, Information Architects were concerning themselves with the challenges of joining many types of Information Consumers with Information Caches. At the most basic (earliest) end of the IA spectrum, consider a book. Today, we couldn?t fathom holding a book in our hands that didn?t have a table of contents and numbered pages. But these are innovations that came much after the basic fact of words printed on a page. As our ?systems? for information ?storage? and ?retrieval? became more complex, so did the science of IA evolve to incorporate new ?technologies? as they emerged. I deliberately placed the terms ?system?, ?storage?, ?retrieval? and ?technology? in quotes, because I expect most people using or reading those terms today associate them with IT and the computer age. And, even though the expression Information Architecture wasn?t coined until 1976, the science of IA ? by any other name ? is ancient and evident in applications as diverse as urban planning, human resources (staffing), and was the core of the reverse engineering strategy that cracked DNA?s ?filing system?. This is about the point where I usually apologize for my long-windedness. But it?s also where I provide you with a context for a dump of information that may seem little related to the subject at hand. I?m sorry ? it?s what I do -- lol. I have found that by backing as far away from the Applied Specifics of an idea as you can, you can gain a grasp of it that will allow you to take that idea places no one ever expected. And now, the abstractions made concrete. In the context of Web Sites, Information Architecture is? (cont?d. shortly) 2HP __________________ tada!