Web Design For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5. Web User Interface Design

In This Chapter

• Understanding interaction versus information design

• Creating user flows

• Designing easy-to-use navigation

• Controlling consistency in your site

If you're like most people, you've gotten lost or turned around in a site at some point in your Web surfing career. When you can't see an obvious navigation scheme, or are in the middle of a poorly designed task sequence, it's no wonder you get lost or confused.

As a designer, you have the ultimate responsibility for a Web site's so-called ease of use. After all, graphic design is communication design and is intrinsically tied to the usability of the site. Users can tell a lot about what a graphic or icon does or doesn't do simply by the way it looks and where it's placed relative to other elements on the page. Similarly, the interactive widgets like drop-down menus and check boxes that you select and arrange on the page, and the order you present them in, all affect the success of a user's ability to accomplish tasks within your site.

While Chapter 4 discusses organizing and navigating Web content from a conceptual "information design" point of view, this chapter delves into how people interact with elements on the page and how the visual design can enhance or inhibit usability.

Interaction Design

Interaction design is different from information design. This is often a major point of confusion for ...