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Published in the July edition of 
Computer Link Magazine

One of the most common questions that is asked upon initiating a web project is "What is my site going to look like?" Another related question that comes up just as often is "Shouldn’t we use new technology 'xyz' (recently the focus has been on Macromedia’s Flash) to make our site exciting and interesting?" While these are important questions, it has been my experience that these questions are almost always answered too early, and thus, are often answered incorrectly. Incorrect answers can be end up being costly not only from the standpoint of having to rework the concepts, but also because there could be a negative impact on visitors who won’t come back to your site.

What’s Important in Design?
The web is an environment where function should always take precedence over form. Statistically, the number one complaint of web users is getting lost or confused on a web site. As you look at some of the most successful web sites (defining "success" related to web sites is a topic for another article) the primary reason behind their success is based on providing information and tools that meet the needs of the site’s visitors. 

Yahoo! is a great example of a site that has had great success with a relatively simple design. Since its inception, Yahoo! has maintained a fairly simple interface that enables you to do just what you need when you visit the site. When I first started using Yahoo! there was a simple search box at the top of the page, right in the middle. I’ve never seen it move. Sure they’ve added many more choices over the last several years, but in general, their site still works and acts the same way it always has. 

Another example of function leading form is Amazon.com. At the start, Amazon was simply a place to buy books on the Internet. If you’ve been exposed to any news media over the last several years, you know that you can now buy a large assortment of products from Amazon (their current tagline is "Earth’s biggest selection"). Through a simple use of graphics that look like the tabs on file folders, they’ve been able to replicate and extend the same shopping experience to the other sections of their online store. Amazon too, has added a lot more to it’s home page, yet it is still as easy as always to type in a title or author and find the book you are looking for. 

So what is it about these sites that makes them so useful and keeps customers coming back? They paid attention to the needs of the visitor first. 

When Amazon first opened up, a whole new way of shopping for books began. In this case, I’m not referring to purchasing over the Internet, but rather to the idea of searching for a specific book, rather than wandering the shelves of a bookstore, or trying to flag down a clerk who can help to find what you are looking for. Bookstores and libraries have always been designed for browsing. People enjoy searching through the stacks, finding a comfortable chair and spending some time determining which book is right for what they are looking for. Imagine the same scenario in a grocery store. Can you imagine what it would be like to "browse" through a grocery store where the products weren’t very easy to find?

This example points out how important it is to identify the wants and desires of the users. Rather than making people learn how their site was set up, they designed a simple-to-use interface that makes sense as soon as you see it. 

As you begin to look through the rest of the top properties on the Internet you’ll quickly notice that all of the sites listed provide functionality as their primary capability, and that each has a relatively simple, easy-to-use interface. If you’re interested, Nielson Netratings, www.nielsennetratings.com, provides an up to date list of the most trafficked Internet sites each week.

Using New Technologies
Way back in 1993, I was part of a team that developed the initial online presence for a Fortune 500 company. At our first meeting, I remember one of the clients asking, "Don’t you think we should put an interactive game on our site so people will come and visit often?" Ever since that first web site, at one point or another, a similar kind of question continues to come up. Today, the common question tends to be, "Shouldn’t we put a Flash introduction on our site?" Usually the idea behind the intro is to provide an interactive TV type commercial regarding a company’s core advertising message. 

One of the problems with these introductions, is that placement on a home page assumes each visitor is coming to your site for the first time. As Flash has appeared on more and more sites, the term "Skip Intro" was created to remedy this. Skip Intro provides a way to let the visitor skip the animation and get right into the information that they really came to the site looking for. However, we’ve found that in most cases, users click Skip Intro even on their first visit to a site, eliminating the marketing benefit. So why are they clicking even on their first visit? Here again, functionality is taking precedence over form. 

Before I go too much further, let me clarify that I think Flash is a great technology and, used wisely, can provide a substantial benefit to your online presence. The key however, is making sure it is used wisely and only where appropriate. 

The negative draw that new technologies provide is that they often tend to shift the focus off your visitors’ needs and onto the neat things they can do. My rule with new technologies is to use them when appropriate for the message and the audience. Make sure that you don’t surprise the visitor, but let them know in advance what they are getting themselves into. 

Understand the Visitor First
The most important step in developing a successful web presence is understanding the desires of your visitors before you begin designing the pages and deciding on technology. Take the time to develop functionality that works and meets visitor expectations, and then you can begin worry about how it looks. On the web most visitors won’t judge the book by its cover, but they’ll judge your site on how easily they can find what they are looking for.