Making Good Use of Flash: When You Should and Shouldn't Use It!Written by Josh Barinstein
If you are considering Flash for your Web site production, there are reasons why you would and would not want to tap into this great technology. Flash is everywhere these days, it is true. However, as we've seen in past, not every available interactive tool should be used in every application! Here are some questions to answer before diving in:1. Is Flash going to help me in communicating with my audience? The first thing you need to decide is whether or not it makes sense to use Flash. Will you be able to communicate better with your audience in how you address their concerns? You need to keep users' needs and perspective in mind at all times. If Flash is going to annoy them, or otherwise get in way of you reaching them, then simply don't use it! However, for subtle animations that help enhance experience, or for media-rich content, on opposite end, Flash is an excellent tool. 2. Will my audience have plug-in? Estimates say that up to 85% of users do have Flash plug-in, with browsers now shipping with it. That still leaves 15% without plug-in, and those with an outdated version. Unfortunately, many won't bother to fetch it in spite of a smart site giving them option. Know your audience and if this will mean a loss of business for you. 3. Is some additional download time acceptable? Flash can be optimized, but some movies could potentially take a bit of time to load. Will your audience commit to waiting? Another important question to answer. Those on slower connections may not wait.
| | What to avoid to make your website design effective?Written by Veselin Andreev Andreev
What to avoid to make your website design effective?By Veselin Andreev Written in April 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The effective design is this one, which is maximum simplified, conformable to your users because they are your main purpose. This one, simply and clearly announcing what is your website about. This one, quickly offering users exactly what they are expecting to see on your pages without being troubled with insignificant information. The big mistake made by lots of web designers is to project their activities from their own point of view, without thinking about user. Factors, damaging website design effectiveness • Additional time needed for website downloading • Badly written content • Complex design, abundant in elements • Difficult navigation, incomprehensible for user • No validated program language Additional time needed for website downloading Your pages downloading time is extremely important. Your users will shut your website down very quickly if you make them wait more because of your slowly downloading pages. The other sites are on a mouse click away from them. • Not important if you are talking about graphics, multimedia, scripts, applets - be cautious about their location on your site. Don't put them without judging their position, just because you or your designer had an idea about it. Design them small-sized, too. Badly written content The text that is ready for print has nothing to do with text for Web. According to Jacob Nielsen, Web usability guru, users have more difficulties in reading information on computers rather than on printed editions. They rather scan it than read it profoundly. Huge text blocks are unreadable and couldn't allow them to do it. Means to make text more readable and effective could be effectuated by using: • separate paragraphs • titles • subtitles • indentations • bullets • bolds • hyperlinks • different fonts and sizes Complex design, abundant in elements • Don't complicate users work by complex and abundant design making website not to be clear in terms of its downloading and its appearance on their screens. • Avoid frames. They could seriously damage your website usability. • Having a site, made on FLASH you can't explain fast and clear to users what his content is about, what it would be useful with, what they could win, using your services, because only its downloading will take several minutes. If you insist however on including FLASH elements, much better variant is to insert them in a detached small file, with definite size, but inserting it, you have to possess some clear purpose. It refers much more to your home page, which is your website main portal.
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