Positioning of Elements and Audience
 

The Customer is the King!

Information alone is not the primary goal of website users.  They enter the website with the curiosity of a child entering a new room.  They expect the different items to be placed exactly where it should be and expect it to be in the shape that they are accustomed to.  Anything that does not conform to the norm is probed or discarded as unfamiliar territory depending on the kind of user he or she is. A web designer setting out to design a website that is experimental may be in for a shock.  The audience may not appreciate his efforts for the simple reason that the shapes, colors and dimensions of the web page are not relatable to anything that they have experienced! "Human needs should be the guide for our technologies." —Ben Shneiderman  

Therefore, a detailed understanding of the audience needs in creation and positioning of elements is an effective metric of good web design.  So if you know who your target audience is you can design for them meaningfully and efficiently.  Positioning of elements in your website is all about organizing your content into logical, user oriented sections and prioritizing content in order of importance to your target audience. A point to be considered in this context is that elements placed below the fold (point at which the user has to start scrolling), will receive less importance than the elements at the top of the page.   

Positioning of elements is all about being conscious of the culture of communication in the region and sensitively arranging the elements in accordance with the expectations.  For instance, most cultures read a document from left to right, but some cultures read it from right to left and expect the elements to be placed accordingly! 

Demographics will help you distinguish your audience on the basis of gender, income level, age, religion, geographic location and so on.  A study of the environment in which the section of audience lives will also help you determine what they will find appropriate.  If you look a little deeper you will perhaps explore their motivations and intentions and arrive at other expectations that are not immediately visible.  Finally, while studying your audience you need to factor in issues of hardware and software limitations and technology awareness levels.  It is also necessary to address browser issues that can distort the best-designed websites.  

Type of Websites

Each medium of communication has its won unique constraints and this can impact the principles and elements of the design.   The constraints may be based on a variety of factors which may include the customer expectations, the purpose of the web site, the technology used, the processes and standards of the industry and so on. The environment creates a unique set of constraints in the placement and positioning of elements in a web page.

Commercial websites are websites that sell products or services to its customers. A right combination of art, technology and communication skills are vital ingredients of a successful commercial website. The user should be able to understand at a glance what the website is selling and should be able to access the details with ease.  They should be able to select the product into the proverbial shopping cart, see their selections, confirm the selections and pay for them.  Shipping information, time that will be taken etc should be displayed prominently.  So the positioning of these elements on the website will be of primary importance.

Personal websites are information sites normally accessed by a closed group of people or people with similar interests.  The type of information being provided and the type of audience who will access the information will determine type and positioning of elements.  The intent of the website should be clear when the user enters the site so that his expectations are correctly oriented.

Organizational websites are created to advocate and individual opinion or a group’s point of view within the organization. Message boards, chat forums and discussion groups are usually the pages that are frequently accessed by these groups.  The websites should be designed to instantly give the user access to all the above elements. 

Educational websites are designed to provide information about educational institutions or to present study materials, tutorials and so on to the students. The user should be able to see the list of lessons and navigate to the required lesson with ease. He should be able to access, the applications, registration forms and other aspects of the website that are essential for him, with ease.

Entertainment websites are created with an intention to provide users with a variety of entertainment avenues.

News websites provide the latest news and Blogs are intended for logging online readings, posting online diaries or provide discussion forums and chat rooms for users. A hybrid website will probably cater to all or some of the above in meaningful ways.

Interactive vs Static Sites

Interactive websites are designed for interaction with the end user.  Users can request for information or leave comments on such sites.  They can download software, information or graphics.  They can participate in chat rooms, discussion forums; leave messages on message boards and blog on topics.  This type of sites is becoming extremely popular and the underlying technology is easy to obtain and use.  

Static websites on the other hand are intended to provide information to the end user. It does not expect to receive any comments from the users or interact with them in any way. It usually provides a static hypertext and navigation is performed through “static” documents. 

Dynamic Sites

Dynamic sites are sites that provide for an interactive navigational experience to the end user.  The content displayed in determined by the requirements specified by the end user and the context settings defined. Client side scripting, like JavaScript or ActionScript, is usually used to provide for the interactivity of the interface. Ajax is the latest language used for client side scripting.  Server side scripting is used if the content has to be changed dynamically by a sequence of reload of pages or reacting to a posted form or reacting to parameters in the URL. Server side scripting languages like PHP, Perl, ASP.NET, JSP are used.  These languages in turn use the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) to produce dynamic web pages. 

As McCasland points out, at a very broad level, “culture is communication”—it is the silent language that permeates the consciousness of the audience and determines their reaction to symbols and colors. It is clear that information hierarchies are very important in positioning of elements and is the cornerstone of usability in web design.  However, a foray into this area is beyond the scope of this book.  While it is important to understand that target audiences play a role in the type of elements used in a web page and the placement of such elements, it is not really the core of the discussion we have launched ourselves into.  So this chapter has touched upon the topic but not drilled down into its essentials!