The Future of the Web - Kevin Kelly

5000 days - that is about 13.75 years. It is amazing how much has changed in that amount of time. It was a big deal when I was a senior in college (the 1st time around) and my college was the first to require the incoming freshman to buy a computer. (And it wasn’t a stylish laptop by any stretch of the imagination.) Any computers on campus or in dorm rooms were used to do homework and projects. There weren’t any thoughts of connecting to the web. Now we can connect to the web with not only our computers, but with our phones and music players!

The idea of the web being a single global machine and that my computer is a window into it was very interesting. It is hard to think of the web as a machine, because it is so large and has so many pieces. But it is a machine that connects everyone that is connected to the web. It is overwhelming to think about.

Where will the web go in the next 5000 days? Mr. Kelly believes that total personalization will require total transparency. It is the price we will have to pay to have all the bits live on the web. At first this sounds like a personal security nightmare. How do we protect our identity, our credit card numbers, etc? But 5000 days ago, who would have predicted online banking and eBay? We all do that without giving it a second thought. So if total transparency is required, I believe ways will be found to insure that our identities will be protected.

I’m not sure how all of this will affect web design. It seems like the w3c is trying to come up with standards, but it can’t keep up with the fast paced changing technologies. One thing I am sure of, there will be more hand held devices used to view the web in the future. Web designers will have to make sure that their sites work on these platforms.

HTML/CSS Tutorial

I did the Large Background tutorial found at http://www.webdesignerwall.com/. I liked the way that the pictures filled up the whole screen like the desktop of your computer. I found it dramatic and different. The technique was easy to use. The hardest part was finding an image that wasn't too "busy". I don't see any ways to modify the technique - it is so simple and straightforward. The tutorial was easy to follow, so yes I would recommend it.

A question that I do have. The CSS contains "display: table". The tutorial said that this was used so that the page displayed correctly in firefox. But it didn't explain how it worked. So that is my question. How and why does this line work?

The web page that I created can be found at http://perceval.gannon.edu/nixon005/C17/Nixon2.html.

Design Psychology Article

The “Design Psychology” article was interesting in the way that it said that web designers needed to be artists and psychologists. They needed to be artists such that the web site was appealing and interesting to look at. And they needed to be psychologists so that they could accurately predict how people would see and use the site.

I think that the topics raised relate to all web designs, not just our project. In our case, we want our site to speak to our specific audiences – the community, those who need Joshua’s Haven’s services and the volunteers and donors. We need to come up with a site that looks aesthetically pleasing and gives visitors the information that they need.

We should keep in mind the concepts of concise content, using white space and eye flow of the pages when developing the web site. We will have to review the site throughout development to make sure that we are implementing these strategies.

Review 3 Websites

I reviewed Because You Care, Inc., Virgin Mobile and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

Because You Care, Inc. http://www.becauseyoucare.org/

• The audience is people who care about dogs and cats


• The most important content is the picture slide show. The slide show contains pictures of cats, kittens and puppies. The pictures get you hooked and want you to look further at the site and help. These pictures are located at the top middle part of the site. Here are 2 pictures shown in the slide show.














• It is a hierarchial site that isn't very deep. It is also set up as 2 columns.


• The site is fluid.


• There are 3 Navigation areas. Navigation A has 3 options, Navigation B has 8 options and Navigation C has 3 options.


• Here is the wireframe of this site.

Virgin Mobile http://www.virginmobileusa.com/

• The audience is young people from teenagers to 20 somethings.


• The most important content is letting the viewer know that they have options in choosing a cell phone. This content is in the top middle part of the page. The following picture shows how they convey this message.

• The web site is a deep hierarchial one and goes from 1 column at the top to 3 at the bottom.


• It is a fixed site.


• There are 4 Navigation areas. Navigation A has 7 options, Navigation B has 6 options, Navigation C has 6 options and Navigation D has 8 options.


• Here is the wireframe of this site.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary http://www.hawkmountain.org/

• The audience is outdoor people who are conservationists and birders.


• The most important content lets the visitors to the site know that the site is about protecting birds of prey. This content is located in the top middle part of the page.


• The layout is a shallow hierarchial with 2 columns.


• It is a fixed site. The following image shows what happens when I make the window smaller.








• There are 2 navigation areas. Area A has 5 options and area B has 15 options.


• 
  
  Here is the wireframe of the site.

Initial Client Interview

We were able to get some valuable information, but I'm not sure that the client is clear about what goals she wants the web site to accomplish. This could be in large part because there is so much to do, just to open the doors, and so much is changing very quickly. It will be important to make sure that her goals and ours "match".

She mentioned that she is working with someone to do the marketing. I would think that we want the web site to follow the marketing strategy closely. What is the time frame for the marketing? Will this cause us problems with the web site? This will be something we need to clarify.

It would have been nice to have more time to meet with her. It seemed like we were just getting our questions answered and getting a feel for what she wanted, when it was time to leave. I feel that, in general, we did accomplish what we needed to for an initial meeting.

Questions for the Stakeholders

Here are the questions that I feel are important to ask.

• What are the goals/objectives of the site?
• Who is the target audience? Who will visit the site? And what do you want the visitors to do when they are at the site?
• Who will write the content? Do they already have text and/or pictures that they know they want on the site?
• When do they want the site operational?
• Do they already know how they want the site to look, ie color, layout, etc.?
• Who will make decisions and give us feed back on progress made building the site?
• Who do we contact with questions?

The Good and the Ugly

Lets start with the ugly.
The website http://www.havenworks.com/ is a really bad one in my opinion. (I actually found the site by going to http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/.) There are many things that I don't like, but here are the top 4.

1. The colors used are atrocious and obnoxious.
2. After spending time looking at the site, I'm still not sure what the main purpose is. It obviously has a great deal of political content and seems to be biased towards promoting the Democratic Party. But what is the reason that the website exists? I don't know.
3. It is very cluttered and unorganized.
4. The pages are too long.

Now for the good.

A website that I like is http://www.upmc.com/. I've been to this site often while researching knee injuries. What I like about this site:

1. The site contains a tremendous amount of information. Everything from directions to their different facilities to educational videos. But it is very easy to navigate around.
2. The site is updated often. As I said previously, I've been researching knee injuries and have been to the site several times over the last year. It seems like every time I visit, something has been added. (They have even kept up with the construction in Pittsburgh when posting directions!)
3. All of the pages load quickly, even the informational videos.

1st Blog

This is my first time blogging. I never thought that I would have my own blog. I'm a private person and having this on the web is a little unsettling.

What I want to know or be able to do when I'm done with this course.

• I want to be able to build a website and know how to maintain it.


• I want to learn about the different "tools" that can be used to build websites.


• I hope to find out if I enjoy designing websites and if it is a career posibility.

I don't foresee any special challenges or hurdles for this class. As with every class, there is studying for tests, finishing projects, juggling work-school-family.......

I'm always excited to learn how to do new things with a computer. Whether it is as simple as learning a short cut for searching a web page or as complicated as a new computer language, I find it challenging and rewarding.