This document provides guidance for an assignment to design an excellent website. It outlines requirements such as a word count of 2,500 words +/- 10% and including a 500-word rationale. An excellent website should have a clear navigation structure, well-designed pages suited to reading on screen, and make appropriate use of images, media, and links. Principles of good design from Dieter Rams and Johnny Ive emphasize simplicity, clarity of purpose, and avoiding clutter. Effective web design principles include not making users think, respecting their patience, using effective writing and white space, following conventions, and testing designs. Further tips suggest using a base color, appropriate fonts, visual hierarchy, proportion, limiting choices, and Occam's razor

1. T&L Website
Lecture 2 - media and design
April 2013

2. A few notes on the
assignment
• 2,500 words +/- 10%.
Please state the wordcount
• Rationale (500 words) is your personal perspective
• References as links
• Acknowledge all work not your own
• Provide the URL via Moodle, making sure your
tutor and uredmod@gmail.com have access to
your site.

3. An excellent website
• open with a home page outlining the rationale of
the website (500 words);
• include your name and student number;
• have a clear navigation structure, making it easy to
access the website contents;
• have well designed pages that suit reading
from the screen;
• show some attention to principles of good
design;
• make use of images and other media, where
appropriate;
• include links to other websites, where appropriate;
• be written in a style appropriate to the web and
which makes it accessible to your target audience;
• be accessible through a web browser alone without
additional software being used.

21. Dieter Rams
• Innovation
• Useful
• Aesthetic
• Helps understanding
• Unobtrusive
• Honest
• Long lasting
• Thorough
• Environmentally friendly
• As little as possible

22. Sir Johnny Ive
Simplicity is not the absence of
clutter, that's a consequence of
simplicity. Simplicity is somehow
essentially describing the purpose
and place of an object and product.
The absence of clutter is just a
clutter-free product.That's not
simple.
The quest for simplicity has to
pervade every part of the process.
It really is fundamental.

23. Effective web design
• Don’t make users think
• Don’t squander users’ patience
• Make use of effective writing
• Strive for simplicity
• Don’t be afraid of white space
• Conventions are our friends
• Test early, test often
A selection from Friedman, 2008

24. Further ideas
• Use of a base colour
• Fonts (don’t use comic sans)
• Hierarchy
• Proportion
• Limit choice
• Occam’s razor