Designing information-abundant web sites: issues and recommendations

“Gradually I began to feel that we were growing something almost organic in a new kind of reality, in cyberspace, growing it out of information?a pulsing tree of data that I loved to climb around in, scanning for new growth.”(Mickey Hart,Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion, 1990)“Look at every path closely and deliberately.Try it as many times as you think necessary.Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question?Does this path have a heart?If it does, the path is good; if it doesn?t it is of no use.”(Carlos CastanedaThe Teachings of Don Juan)The abundance of information on the World Wide Web has thrilled some, but frightened others. Improved web site design may increase users? successful experiences and positive attitudes. This review of design issues identifies genres of web sites, goals of designers, communities of users and a spectrum of tasks. Then an Objects/Actions Interface Model is offered as a way to think about designing and evaluating web sites. Finally, search and navigation improvements are described to bring consistency, comprehensibility and user control.

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