The site you want may not be the site you need
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The first consideration should always be for the target audience.
Are there age, cultural or national factors to take into account?
Does the audience use the Internet frequently or are they going to be reading your
site as a printout from an assistant?
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Structure and navigation
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What are visitors looking for? How obvious is the path to various features of the site?
The usual print wisdom is to present information in a "who, what, when where" format. Naturally
this has to be attractive, adapted to the "web space" and use an original approach. Straying too far from
the expected navigtion logic will limit and frustrate visitors.
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"Look and feel"
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Sometimes company graphics need to be modified to work well with electronic media. Only a specialist can
determine if this is needed and how to do it. Specific localisation can also be color-dependent.
The obvious example are sites in China which look nothing like their American or European counterparts.
At the regional level, sometimes colors are associated with a team or a well-known existing local brand.
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User interactivity and dynamic content
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In 1995 it was enough to be on the Web. In 2000, sites became more dynamic and today,
interactivity and evolutive content have become part of the user's expectations.
On the other hand, web visitors have also become more wary about leaving their email or other data on
sites they visit. Also impatient with unwanted popup windows and excessive banners, they are installing
filters that remove most of these. The user wants to be master of the experience, not be led around on a guided tour.
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How do we know what the user is looking for?
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Experience has shown that a number of basic principles apply whatever the subject mattter or target audience
of a web site. However, no one can forsee all the possible combinations of a visitors's experience, computer hardware
and software and connection speed. This is why we use traffic analysis and post-production useability testing.
These and other tools help us evaluate how successful we have been in meeting visitors' needs.
Beware of trying to transpose your own vision of what a site should be and concentrate on your audience.
Success on the web comes from matching or exceeding the visitor's expectations, presenting engaging content in an
agreable looking and easy to navigate manner.
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