#32055
Remembering Your Reader in Web Design
Technology advancements have allowed for many improvements and enhancements in web design. Drastic changes have been made concerning programming, development, and available features. From flash animations, to blog pages, forums, and live chat, website designers have a multitude of design elements that can be added to their websites. Multimedia products such as audio, video, and podcasts are some of the other advancements in web design. One thing that has not changed, however, is the website readers. Successful website developers know and understand this concept, and apply it to every website that they design.
Haig, Anders. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Rhetoric>Audience Analysis
#23930
Sur Internet, n'importe qui est en mesure d'éditer plus ou moins n'importe quoi. Dans certains secteurs, la crédibilité du contenu prend une importance particulièrement centrale.
Redaction (2004). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric
#20561
Flash, by Macromedia, is a program designed to create graphics and interactivity for the World Wide Web. Its primary characteristics are moving text, sounds attached to that text and/or to navigational buttons, links, and mouseovers. Flash, for this reason, has been compared to television -- indeed, a web page generated in Flash often seems as if it would be equally at home on a stereo-surroundsound, high-definition TV. But there's a catch. . . . After going through the site a few times, the viewer might well discover that his or her choices are limited to those programmed into the site. But it's likely that the site's entertainment value -- as well as its multi-layered rhetorical messages -- will far outweigh any feelings of deception. . . which is, in itself, a monumental rhetorical statement.
Clark, Tracy. Purdue University (2003). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric>Flash
#23048
How do knowledge workers learn? How do they decide what to learn next? What motivates them to share? These questions are central to the challenges of knowledge management, and yet most corporate portals and online communities are designed in ignorance of their answers.
Morville, Peter. Semantic Studios (2002). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Rhetoric
#18451
Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility
How can you boost your web site's credibility? We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people.
#22854
Principles of intertextuality guided an upper-level Professional Writing class at the University of Houston-Downtown when they created a World Wide Web page for a professional group in Houston. The project gave the page’s creators practical experience in approaching the text as process, accommodating readers' and writers' intermingling roles, and working with the constraints that intertextuality imposes on writers. The insights the page's creators gained can assist them as they serve as managers of their own career portfolios.
Bartholomew, Barbara G. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric
#31102
It is now possible to replicate Google Maps' functionality with open source software and produce high-quality mapping applications tailored to your design goals. Paul Smith shows how.
Smith, Paul. List Apart, A (2008). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Geography
#23045
Studies regarding how people evaluate a web site's credibility show the critical importance of information design and structure. Users trust sites that are well-designed and well-organized. Poor navigation is the key element that decreases earned web credibility.
Semantic Studios (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Rhetoric
#18920
Using Photographs to Increase Trust in a Website
Exposure to photographs prior to an interaction does seem to increase trusting behavior.
Bailey, Robert. Web Usability (2003). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
#23845
Visible Narratives: Understanding Visual Organization
Visual designers working on the web need an understanding of the medium in which they work, so many have taken to code. Many have entered the usability lab. But what about the other side? Are developers and human factors professionals immersed in literature on gestalt and color theory?
Wroblewski, Luke. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#25583
Native to the Internet and personal in approach, weblogs deliver bite-sized portions of information on a daily basis to an ever expanding audience. Weblogs are the conjunctions of the Internet: the ands, the buts the ors – they add to online conversations, refute them, or provide new perspectives altogether.
Badger, Meredith. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Blogging
#25490
Visual Factors in Constructing Authenticity in Weblogs
Authenticity is something which must be constructed rather than simply accruing to verbal content, and visual and other design features are an inherent, but often overlooked, factor in this construction.
Thompson, Gary. Saginaw Valley State University (2003). Articles>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Blogging
#18418
Web Design: Assuring Credibility
In recent years, we have seen an explosion of medical and health-related information on the internet, and many patients cite the internet as their preferred source for information on their health and that of their families. However, there are concerns, voiced by healthcare professionals and patients alike, that this information is not uniformly accurate, complete, or up-to-date.
#22043
Web Design: Define the Purpose
What's the 'mission' of your site? This is the first and, perhaps, most important question to answer before you embark on developing your site.
Tech-Writer (2001). Design>Web Design>Planning>Rhetoric
#31509
Web Site Redesign: From Stagnation to Rejuvenation
When surfing the web these days, you often come across web sites that suffer from stagnation—they look old, obsolete or appear to have been designed by an amateur. Your web site needs continuous improvement to capture and engage your visitor’s attention. If not, he or she can easily click away to your competitor’s site. Here are twelve steps to help prevent stagnation.
Drost, Herman. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Design>Web Design>Redesign>Rhetoric
#21053
The way a website presents itself to users is a key aspect of user experience. Effective websites don't interrupt user flow, which is guaranteed largely by posture (how the website uses available resources, particularly visual), and manner (how the website 'talks' to users).
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric
#31605
Winning Content Persuades, Not Manipulates
Elements of persuasion are important to creating winning content. To help safeguard content from becoming manipulation, we need to understand its distinction from persuasion. As a step toward that understanding, this article: provides basic definitions of persuasion and manipulation; explores the key differences between them; and describes some consequences for UX content.
Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric
#26547
Writing and Designing for the Web (573G)
This class focuses on effective writing and design for online environments--with particular emphasis on the Web. While grounded in relevant theory, this course has a workshop format, with an emphasis on hands-on, collaborative learning.
Krause, Tim. Metropolitan State University (2005). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric
#28243
An About page should provide context and necessary facts, but should also give the reader compelling reasons to do what you want them to do.
Kissane, Erin. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric
#32332
An Analysis of Failed Queries for Web Image Retrieval 
This paper examines a large number of failed queries submitted to a web image search engine, including real users' search terms and written requests. The results show that failed image queries have a much higher specificity than successful queries because users often employ various refined types to specify their queries. The study explores the refined types further, and finds that failed queries consist of far more conceptual than perceptual refined types. The widely used content-based image retrieval technique, CBIR, can only deal with a small proportion of failed queries; hence, appropriate integration of concept-based techniques is desirable. Based on using the concepts of uniqueness and refinement for categorization, the study also provides a useful discussion on the gaps between image queries and retrieval techniques. The initial results enhance the understanding of failed queries and suggest possible ways to improve image retrieval systems.
Pu, Hsiao-Tieh. Journal of Information Science (2008). Articles>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Search
#32718
Grunge Style In Modern Web Design
As Web 2.0 style passes way, it’s time for something new. Few weeks ago we’ve written about the hand-drawing style in modern web-design. And as Web 2.0 style is all about glossy and shiny look, another option would be something rather crude, radical and provoking. Such as the grunge style — dirty look with irregular, nasty, sometimes even ugly and crooked visual elements. Will it establish itself as a trend? Probably not. However, it may be used once some creative and unconventional design approach is needed.
Smashing (2008). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric
#32963
Visual Communication and Web Application Design
In order for a Web application to be "usable", it must be understandable. It needs to communicate, and communicate effectively. When a user interacts with a Web application they have only the visual presentation (the interface) to "tell" them what the application has to offer, and how they can make use of it. As a result, designers must rely on visual communication principles to tell our audience: about the behavior, structure, and purpose of our Web applications. The better at communicating we are, the easier it is for our audience to understand our messages and intentions, and the easier it is for them to use and appreciate our Web applications.
Wroblewski, Luke. Functioning Form (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Visual Rhetoric
#33228
Visible Narratives: Understanding Visual Organization
Visual communication can be thought of as two intertwined parts: personality, or look and feel, and visual organization. The personality of a presentation is what provides the emotional impact —your instinctual response to what you see. Creating an appropriate personality requires the use of colors, type treatments, images, shapes, patterns, and more, to “say” the right thing to your audience. This article, however, focuses on the other side of the visual communication coin: visual organization.
Wroblewski, Luke. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Web Design>Document Design>Visual Rhetoric
#34663
User interface experts are often suspicious of the role of visual aesthetics in user interfaces—and of designers who insist that graphic emotive impact and careful attention to a site’s visual framework really contribute to measurable success. Underneath the arguments, I see a fundamental culture clash.
Lynch, Patrick. List Apart, A (2009). Articles>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>User Experience
#34724
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
