Making the Web Work: Designing Effective Web Applications

Summary

Before you leave the elusive world of structural models, however, take note of a few memorable points.

Unlike their desktop cousins, Web applications reside in a page-based environment rather than a window or file-based one. To be consistent with the medium, Web applications should

• Avoid the use of secondary windows.

• Clearly distinguish between the primary modes of viewing and editing.

• Avoid, at all costs, navigational dead-ends.

Among other things, a design consistent with the Web as an interactive medium requires an understanding of the differences between, and the uses of, views and forms. Views contain content, navigational elements, and control over the information being presented. By contrast, the purpose of forms is to ...