Design as a Competitive Advantage

Web designers will need to turn to the techniques of the software industry as web projects grow more like software projects. This will result in a shift to a new design imperative that combines best practices from media design and production with computer-human interaction concepts. This is referred to as "action driven design."

A significant portion of this new design trend will occur spontaneously. The Web may be the most recent new medium, but it is far from the first. The design of all new forms, whether media or otherwise, follows a natural development. New forms begin by emulating earlier forms, then develop into the new form's final shape. Early automotive designs were based on carriage designs (hence, the name "horseless carriage"). Early television shows modeled themselves after both radio and live theater. Similarly, the Web is striving to transition from its early impersonation of print and broadcast media to what it will eventually become.

The Four Stages of Web Design

The four progressive stages of web design evolution correspond to the stages of development that many web designers go through. There are several sites on the Internet nowadays that correlate to the first three stages. The fourth phase is only now starting to develop. The four stages are as follows:

I. Putting What We Already Knew to Use

The designer utilizes principles from traditional media in this case. As a result, the site seems to be a printed page, a video still, or a CD-ROM. Because of the hefty visuals, interactivity often suffers, and performance is typically bad.

2. Replicating What We See

As the designer immerses himself in the reality of Web design, new design issues arise that cannot be simply handled by applying lessons from previous media. At this step, the designer looks at how other sites handled similar issues and applies their ideas. However, even if the designer's expertise is expanding, there is still no profound conceptual foundation. A borrowed solution may not be acceptable and may potentially exacerbate usability issues.

3. Experience-Based Learning

The Web's feedback systems are a very helpful learning tool. The examination of server logs reveals how people navigate a website. Email allows users to express their likes and dislikes. But beware: although consumers are aware of problems, they are not the best people to create solutions. Furthermore, internal users are a continual source of information. As a Web designer reaches the third phase, the design is often streamlined to operate better on a range of browsers, the page size is lowered to perform better over low bandwidth, and page layouts become more consistent. All of these are great improvements, even though the designer may still be missing an underlying framework of knowledge.

4. Understanding of Software Design

Some new media designers have started to go beyond the existing state of web design and get acquainted with the ideas and methodologies used by software developers. Simultaneously, the Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) group, which was previously focused only on software, has started to adapt and apply its work to the Web. What we are just now starting to see on the Web is a design approach that is as much a product of science as it is of art. It is a more disciplined, philosophical approach to new media design. It is distinguished by designers utilizing what they have learned from both previous lives and current experience via disciplined methods to develop designs that are demonstrably better than previous attempts. This is the first step toward action-oriented design.

In the face of this growing complexity, it is difficult to assist users in achieving their objectives while also directing them toward activities that support company objectives. To be successful, designers must comprehend user objectives, business goals, dynamically changing site functionality, and software design processes. Talent and experience alone will not be enough.