Design principles for data-intensive Web sites

The integrated design of the Web interface and of data content gives several advantages in the design of data-intensive Web sites. The main objectives of this design process are (a) associating the Web with a high-level description of its content, that can be used for querying, evolution, and maintenance; (b) providing multiple views of the same data; (c) separating the de nition of information content from Web page composition, navigation, and presentation, which should be de ned independently and autonomously; (d) storing the meta-information collected during the design process within a repository used for the dynamic generation of Web pages; (e) collecting information about the Web site usage, obtained both statically (user registration) and dynamically (user tracking); (f) supporting selective access to information based on users' requirements and needs; (g) using business rules to improve the generation of e ective Web pages and to present each user with personalised views of the Web site. We identify ten general principles that should be considered when implementing a Web site managing large amounts of data, yielding the following decalogue: