Website Redesign Without a Nervous Breakdown

It doesn't matter whether you're working for a company or working as a freelancer with clients. It happens to all of us. That sigh of relief we breathe when the website we've been designing is finally 'finished.' Truth be told, a good website is constantly in flux, taking advantage of the web's fluid and flexible nature. Unlike other marketing and sales materials, changes made to your website can be relatively painless-or at least less painful than throwing out a box of brochures because you've decided to change your branding or your focus. It's hard to throw those away, no matter how outdated or inaccurate they may be; when you do, it's hard to see anything else but dollar signs hovering above the trash can. The web offers unparalleled flexibility in making changes. Whether it be adding or changing content, switching graphic elements or including features that allow customers to more easily interact, these changes typically requires only the desire, the technical know-how and the budget to support both. Go into a site redesign blindly, however, simply adding and subtracting elements and pages based on hunches or what one visitor has commented on doesn't make any sense.

Marshall, John. Design and Publishing Center (2003). Design>Web Design>Redesign

What Makes Web Sites Credible? A Report on a Large Quantitative Study  

The credibility of web sites is becoming an increasingly important area to understand. To expand knowledge in this domain, we conducted an online study that investigated how different elements of Web sites affect people’s perception of credibility. Over 1400 people participated in this study, both from the U.S. and Europe, evaluating 51 different Web site elements. The data showed which elements boost and which elements hurt perceptions of Web credibility. Through analysis we found these elements fell into one of seven factors. In order of impact, the five types of elements that increased credibility perceptions were “real-world feel,” “ease of use,” “expertise,” “trustworthiness,” and “tailoring.” The two types of elements that hurt credibility were “commercial implications” and “amateurism.” This large-scale study lays the groundwork for further research into the elements that affect Web credibility. The results also suggest implications for designing credible Web sites.

Fogg, B.J., Jonathan Marshall, Othman Laraki, Alex Osipovich, Chris Varma, Nicholas Fang, Jyoti Paul, Akshay Rangnekar, John Shon, Preeti Swani and Marissa Treinen. Stanford University (2001). Articles>Web Design>Rhetoric