Abstraction with web design

Here “Abstraction” means hiding the complexity, if so how the web application can do this. Most of the website have many deep roots to the contents and functionalities which help the users. How can we make these content reachable to the user and functionalities available for the users.

1) Have clear navigation.
2) Make impotent functionalities available on top-level pages.
3) Make once action to reach contents (one click or one form submit)
4) Give possible option to filter the content.

If we are using Google earth, you are clear about the landscape of the Earth. But if you reduce the zoom in, you will be able to see America. But still you are going to zoom in, you can see the cities in the USA. When you design your application you should follow the same way of user navigation. From you home you should have access to the next level and so on. This will hide the complexity of your application and give easy navigation for your user. This way of hiding the complexity will help to get more interaction. So design your home page and other module with spider net model.

Having links to main functionalities with top navigation will help the user to understand the key functionalities with the website.

Have clear left navigation on the left column to allow the user to reach root nodes.

Use right column top area to give information about important event or news.

Enrich the middle column with useful information and functionalities.

Have footer with guidelines and contact information.

Build web 2.0 applications

Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. With Web 1.0, the website providers was adding content to the website using content managements system.

New generation web sites are generating contents from users, like blogs, forums and community sites are top. This allow to increase the user interaction with the website and to help to build content-rich websites. Web 2.0 aims to get more interaction and encourage users to spent more time on the portal.

Wikipedia is a content rich website but the interaction is very less compare to any community sites like Facebook, hi5 and orkut. So the business owner strategy will be how to make or modify the product with “content-rich” and “with more user spent time”. This is really challenging job. But careful watch and analyse on the current users will help to increase the interaction.

Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. More freedom for user’s, which will make any one happy!!!. Thus users add values to the website.

Technologies like AJAX, XML-XSLT and RSS helped portal developer to build user-friendly websites.

Now the time has to come to give “freedom for users”

Thanks,

Sreejith Sasidharan