Architecture and Navigation

With any new development, technology, or design, architecture and navigation are two of the most important aspects. Designing a new web page is like designing a new house. The first thing you have to do it is sit down and think about what kind of layout you would like. You need to come up with something that is appealing to the audience (web page viewer or home owner), and is easy to navigate through. Once you have come up with some idea of what you would like your house or web page to look like, your next step should be a sketch or blueprint of your first draft design. When you have everything sketched out, it is easier for you to see what needs work and what looks good. Once you have have gotten things laid out the way you like, you can starting thinking about the way you'd like it to look (interface design). The article, "Designing the Interface & Navigation Design," tells you to start simple and then focus on the finer details as your web page progresses. Web design isn't just about designing a website that is appealing to the eye, but also about creating something that you can easily navigate through and find what you need. It needs to be user friendly or else your audience will find somewhere else to go.

Another important thing to focus on is making sure all of you links take you to the right place and work correctly. Personally, I hate it when you go to click on a link that is supposed to take you somewhere helpful and then it turns out the website doesn't exist anymore or it takes you somewhere else entirely. The other day I was on the site Wanelo, which is a site about products and looks that are trending, and I clicked on one of the products on the site. The link took me to the site that the product was from (Delias), but instead of taking me to the regular site designed for your basic browser, it took me to the mobile version of the site. At first I thought it was just a poorly designed web page and it wasn't until some time later that I scrolled to the bottom and saw the option to stop using the mobile version. I was about to give up and leave the site because it was so hard to navigate. This is just one example about why it is important to make sure your links take you to the right place.

Then other two articles we had to read, "Web Site Architecture 101" and "Web Architecture from 50,000 feet," were also very helpful on explaining the importance of the design of you web site. The Web Architecture from 50,000 feet article stated "The document is written for those who are technically aware or intend soon to be, so it sparse on explanation and heavy in terms of terms." I personally do not consider myself technically aware, but I do intend to soon be. I found this article to be a bit dry, but it was also very informative. I learned about URI and why it is important and also some more information about human readable information (Graphics, HTML, Style Sheets, etc.). The article, "Web Site Architecture 101," discussed the three simple steps to determine the architecture or navigation scheme for a site which are:

1. Top Level

2. Second Level

3. Balancing Levels