Web design principles for online membership and payment systems

¶ … Web Design

Designing a web site may be the most tiresome and yet exciting task when creating an online system that will be accessible to everybody. Sometimes, it can be regarded that web designs are among the bread and butter of web sites. This is especially true in online e-commerce sites where customers and clients can do business, such buying and selling, with a company that is reachable via the Internet. Most of the time, how appealing a web design is done is what attracts many users to revisit web sites. This similar view was pointed out by James Maguire (2004) in his article Site Design Tips to Improve Your Sales. Maguire (2004) stated that The better-designed your site, the better your chances of making the sale.

There are many web sites that reached success because of a good web design. When we say a web design is good, it doesn't mean that the web design has to have too much decorative such as too much colors or graphics. A web design is good when it is naturally pleasing to the eye of the online users, and, more importantly, when it is able to satisfy and provide the needs of the users. A good web design must be convenient to use, providing users with systematic approaches to do what they need. Systematic approaches mean that the web design must provide the users with functions and buttons that will help them do what they need to do and go where they need to go (online speaking of course). This characteristics lead to usability features that must always be a part of a good web design. Some examples of successful web sites because of a good web design are Yahoo, Google, Ebay, and Amazon. These web sites can be basically characterized to have simple, manageable, and usable web designs.

Objective of this Paper

This paper aims to gather idea and information for a web design of an online membership and payment management system. To gather information and idea on what the online system and web site will need, included in this paper is a discussion of the principles of web designing. Such principles can help the researcher decide which important web features must be given with attention and which elements of a web design will be suitable to his planned online membership and payment management system.

Methodology

The researcher will gather information from articles and journals related to web designing. The main resources of information are the Internet and available Web Design Journals. The researcher will make use of qualitative research method in which information will be based from previously written materials related to web design.

From the information that will be gathered, the researcher will try to collect which concepts and principles that can be applicable to his objective. To have an idea whether such information are really suitable to his objective, the same method of qualitative research will be done in which statements, comments, recommendations, suggestions, and factual information from people who have been involved in web designing will be used.

The industry

In our planned web site, we can have some of the following simple definitions of our goals and objectives that the web site will serve.

To provide membership registration to users

To allow users to view the benefits and activities that they can receive from becoming a member

To allow online payments for registered payments

From such definition of goals and objectives, we can narrow them down to other information that can help us decide how the web site should look like and what functionality buttons can be used.

A.2 Have a structured and easy to navigate web site.

Web sites must communicate well with the users. The transition of one page to another must give sense to the user. It is common that within one page of a web site, users can have a number of buttons or links that they can click to. However, the pages where the users will be directed to when they click a button must not let them lose the sense or information that they have or the sense of the activity that they are doing from the previous page that they are browsing. For instance, in the online membership and payment management system, you cannot just put a link to the Payment Page if the current page is just the first page of online registration. This is because it does not make sense to bring a user to a page that asks for payment information if he is not yet a member of the site.

Having a sensible and easy to navigate web sites are two important characteristics that make web sites user-friendly. As mentioned in the previous principle of web design, the focus of web designs must be in users since the success of web sites depends on them. Some of the useful suggestions to design an easy to navigate web sites are the following.

Make a link for Home Page, Previous Page, Next Page.

Offering a Content Page to users can provide them an idea of the contents of the web site. With a Content Page, users do not anymore need to pass through pages just to go to the page that they intend to go to.

Make sure that links and buttons have a keyboard shortcut. Keep in mind that some users find it easier and quicker to use keyboard shortcuts than pointing and clicking the mouse device.

Provide a page ID, such as window title page. Even though users reached several levels of navigating from one page to another, the information, in the form of a simple title page, can help them remember the reason why they are browsing the page.

Provide a link or button to pages that are related or relevant to the current page. Although search functions are useful, links and buttons to related pages is a quick way of providing suggestions to users as to which information can further give him some help

A.3 Keep Your Web Site Updated to the Latest Technology

Most of the time, users seek for new technologies. They are fascinated with new technologies. Hence, when a web site applies new technologies, chances are, users return visiting it. For instance, static menus are no longer the fad in today's web sites. Aside from being a space-eater, they look boring. It would be better if rolling-out menus, those that pull down once a mouse points on a menu item, is used. However, along with this principle, the ability of the new technology to run in the users' machine is important to considered. For instance, using Java Applets in the design and development of the web page may not be compatible to run in old browsers. If this is the case, there must be an alternative design that checks the technology being used by the user, as well as the directing function that designates which technology will be applied to the users' machine.

Another way of keeping your web site updated is by constantly monitoring that your links, particularly those to the external sites, still exist.

Keeping the design and organization of your web site updated brings in the trust of the users to your site. Constant updates is a way of informing your user that you also take care of them.

A.4 Keep a simple and yet informative page layout.

Simplicity is the key to users' convenience in using a web page. According to Mark Ward, as stated by Dr. Jakob Nielsen,

The paradox that needs to be mastered, he says, is for simple information to be immediately available, with more depth available for those who want more.

Morever, Nielsen stated that The beauty of the web is that you can provide infinite depth," Dr. Nielsen says. "You have to allow people to focus on what they want, and if they want it then they should be able to get much deeper information."

Keeping a web page's layout simple requires the direct availability of simple information. This major rule is one of the web design principles in which some web designers commit mistakes. Some have the wrong notion that having a complex web design is a "state-of-the-art" in web technology. Thus, what some do is to keep users click on different links and buttons first before users get into the main information that they need.

It must be kept in mind that not all users have a wide knowledge in computer technology. So, do not put a lot of designs that will only confuse the users. Web designs must be kept simple and sensible. According to Andrew Starling (2001), the vast majority of customers [web users] are looking for speed, simplicity and ease of use rather than an introduction to the latest programmers' gadgets.

A.5 Design your web site as a self-service center

Web sites are created to allow the users do things on their own. For instance, in an e-commerce web site, customers can look and buy for products without consulting for a salesperson to help them. Web sites must be designed to provide a convenient and faster way of doing activities, as in shopping for our example. According to Gerry McGovern (2004),

The essence of a website is self-service. There are three core things that self-service needs to get right: convenience, speed, and price. Convenience means task achievement with minimum effort. Speed means that you get in and out of a website as quickly as possible. People are cheap on the Web.

In our objective, in designing an online membership and payment management system, users must be able to register for membership without the need to call for a hotline. To achieve this, every information must be made available to them. This includes basic information such why they have to register, what they can get after registering, and how they can become a member. If these kinds of information are provided online, users can self-serve themselves.

B. General Principles on Components of a Web Design

The previous items that were listed are some basic principles of web design. In this section, we will try to enumerate some specific rules in using web design elements. It is important to provide a focus on these items since they are the basic components that make up a web design.

B.1 Page Layout

Have a standard layout for all the pages in your web site. CSUS.EDU online has the following suggestions for page layouts.

Keep lines short, approximately 40-60 characters or about 11 words per line.

Keep paragraphs four to eight lines.

Use wider margins to increase white space for readability online.

Use headlines, bullets, pull quotes, and sidebars.

Use darker or brighter contrast in small areas.

Give all pages a common look and feel.

B.2-Page Links

Make your page links easy to understand, as well as obvious and clear that it is a link. Using italic, underlined, or colored fonts help to identify links.

B.3 Graphics

Do not just embed graphics in a web page. Graphic images must be relevant to the information the web page is trying to convey. Also, do not use graphics that are hard to understand.

B.4 Fonts

Use simple fonts such as Arial or Times Roman. Use only one font style as the standard font in all the pages of a web site. For the foreground color of fonts, use a color that matches the logo of the web site's owner. For instance, if the company logo contains red and white colors, red or white can be used as the standard font color in all the pages of the web site. Or, black foreground, being the standard font color, can be used.

Critical Evaluation

Many web sites have been successful because of a good web design. That is because successful web sites such as Yahoo, Google, Ebay, and Amazon, have implemented the basic guidelines of a good web design. In evaluating the different web design principles that were presented, it can be found that simplicity, usability, and clarity of web designs are among the most common characteristics that make up a good web design. These characteristics must go along with the intention of focusing on the intended users of the web site. That is, how the users will find it convenient and efficient in using the web site.

For our planned web site, which is an online membership and payment management system, it is suggested to make the web design as clear as possible. Every information fields used in the web site must be clearly defined and easy to understand. If possible, it would be best if an online help will be provided for the intended users. This is to achieve the goal of making the web site a self-service center since it will be an online membership and payment management system wherein it is intended that no physical assistance will be required.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the evaluation of several critics on the success of web sites are factual and true. As an Internet user, I believe that for a web site to be successful, it must prove its effectiveness to its users. The effectiveness of a web site relies on simple factors, and yet, some web sites just overlook them. Complexity and adopting new technologies are some of the aspects that cause the ineffectiveness of web designs. When all is needed are factors such as simplicity and direct to the point delivery of information, some web designers are misguided by the continuous development in the computer technology.

The basic essence of web sites is to allow self-service, whether it is access to information or services pertaining to activities that were previously conducted with human interaction. This purpose must never be lost in the objectives of any web site. If this purpose satisfies users without any complexities and problems, with simplicity and ease, we can conclude that a web site servicing users in such manner was developed out of a good web design.