The topic for today is basic (really basic) principles of web design. The idea is for you to get some basic idea about what makes a good (in the area of design) website. We want you to have some basic framework for thinking about and doing the web page and web site design process.
We will also talk about basic color issues today. We will look at how to combine colors in a way that produces the effects you are after.
One way to approach understanding design issues is to take a good look at sites or parts of sites that do not work, and to figure out why they do not work. A great resource for such analysis is Vincent Flanders' Web Pages That Suck site. He shows examples of bad design, and (better yet) how to fix them. I particularly like the section of his site entitled "Mystery Meat Navigation", defined as where "you can't just look at the links and know where they will take you. You have to mouse over the links to find out your destination."
Another way to approach gaining a better understanding of design issues is to take a look at analytic work already completed by others who are experts in the area. The question of how to make electronic documents which can easily be used by real human beings in the real world is not a totally new one. By studying what has been found to work in real-world experience and data analysis we can learn to make new mistakes, which in my opinion is A Good Thing.
Jakob Nielsen's website on usability and design is a a great resource. You should read three short articles from that website by the second class session this week:
Find 2 sites you really hate. Now figure out why and how the sites could be fixed. Be prepared to discuss in class and explain on a web site as per the homework assignment
Basic Color
Basic Design Ideas