IT474-1: Web Design and Development

Research Questions

Four basic principles of design

Alignment

This refers to the uniform arrangement of website elements along a shared axis such

as margins, sides, the center, top and bottom. This creates order and clear organization across

the design of a website. The main purpose of alignment in design is to create legibility,

balance and general usability. Usability refers to how easily and effectively users can interact

with the content of a website, and the satisfaction levels during and after the interaction

(Ganiyu et al., 2017). Alignment is a part of visual design deals with the aesthetic elements of

websites. A good website should be well-balanced, have content that is easy to navigate and

generally be visually appealing as a result of a well-thought-out layout (Beaird, Walker &

George, 2020). This involves choices like appropriate color schemes that are legible, imagery

and typography that are aligned with the target audience, the purpose and the brand behind

the website.

Repetition

This is a principle that allows web designers to create unity and uniformity across a

website, with the aim of reinforcing the main message or service provided. This greatly

affects the usability of a website. Usability manifests itself through availability, clarity,

recognition and credibility. Availability refers to the ease of access, and that the website is

always running as expected, and is accessible on different platforms and devices. Clarity

refers to how easy it is to comprehend the content of a website even for new visitors. This

speaks to the conciseness and organization of information in an intuitive way. Recognition

refers to simple navigation and labels to help users locate what they require and complete
their objectives. Credibility refers to trust in the genuine nature of the content, services or

products provided by a website. These elements need to be repeated throughout the website in

a coherent manner that offers a continuous, enjoyable and effective user interaction.

Proximity

This refers to an element of visual design where related elements are grouped together

to highlight the associations between them (Beaird, Walker & George, 2020). For a website

design to be considered effective, it needs to achieve and accommodate the needs of a user.

Therefore, a website is expected to have a simple clear intention across all its pages to help

users interact with the purpose of the website. This is only possible when there is a good flow

of elements in the website and how related or progressive elements have a smooth transition

between them.

Contrast

This refers to the difference between two or more adjacent items in web design (Beier

& Oderkerk, 2021). Elements like color, texture, typography and size are used to contrast

each other creating visual interest and drawing attention to certain parts of the overall design.

Using contrasting elements is an effective way of highlighting important information,

creating a mood and establishing hierarchy between the different parts of the website. A well-

designed website is easy to navigate and perceived as efficient by the users. Web usability is a

critical component of user experience because it determines how effective a website is in

accommodating users’ needs.

3 Best practices when writing text for the Web

Uniform formatting

A website has to be readable and should enable smooth access to information. While

browsing the internet, people scan for keywords rather than reading every word in web

content. Therefore, the text should be appropriately formatted to ensure that they can be

scanned at a quick glance. A good web design should avoid unnecessary formatting that can

distract and should use bold fonts and italics with caution. Underlining and upper-case letters

should be done sparingly and there should be no big blocks of text. The hierarchy of

information presented should be distinguished using headings, subheading, bulleted lists,

images and brief paragraphs.

Clarity and conciseness

Text on the web should be clear and concise. It should have large enough and clear

font that can be seen without struggling. Sentences should be simple and not complex, with

important links set alone rather than getting lost in text. Ideally, there should be first-person

or second-person perspective, and there should not be any unnecessary prepositional phrases,

superlatives, adverbs and adjectives. Content should not be overly repeated, and conciseness

can be further ensured by removing trivial and irrelevant information.

Recognizing the target audience

Text on a website should be at the language level of the target audience, which can be

casual, formal, adult, children, students, and buyers. It can also be a combination of several

attributes, such as group of children looking up academic content about a service or product

on sale. A target audience also determines the language chosen, and whether provisions need

to be made for people with disabilities.

Definition of Target Audience and how it applies to Web Design

A target audience refers to the main section of users that a website is meant to serve. It

refers to the people who are most likely to seek out information from a particular kind of

website. A well-designed website starts with understanding the kind of user that will be likely

to use the website (Panda & Mishra, 2022). An online library has the target audience of

learners and students, while an online marketplace is full of buyers and sellers looking to

view the prices of products and services. Therefore, identifying a clear target audience for a

website is core to guiding the appearance and functionality of a website. A target audience

determines the factors such as the color scheme, the expected features and the general layout.

The target audience also determines the tone and language level of the text and

content when designing a website. Children are likely to favor more simple language,

informal tones and bright interesting colors, while business professionals are likely to align

with formal language, professional tone and vocabulary, in addition to a reserved color tone

that identifies more with the brand behind the website.

 References

Beaird, J., Walker, A., & George, J. (2020). The principles of beautiful web design. SitePoint

Pty Ltd.

Beier, S., & Oderkerk, C. A. (2021). High letter stroke contrast impairs letter recognition of

bold fonts. Applied Ergonomics, 97, 103499.

Ganiyu, A. A., Mishra, A., Elijah, J., & Gana, U. M. (2017). The importance of usability of a

website. IUP Journal of Information Technology, 13(3), 27-35.

Panda, M., & Mishra, A. (2022). Digital marketing. See discussions, stats, and author

profiles for this publication at: https://www. researchgate. net/publication/358646409.