Design and Audience.

     Cohen and Rosenzweig point out an interesting fact about how the average internet user does not normally take the time to explore most web pages they visit, which can be a frustration bit of information for the person who took the time to create the site. “Sometimes coming to a web page directly from another site (rather than the parent site’s home page), the surfer engages in disoriented stumbling rather than rational, linear touring.” Point being, the site should be presented with a simple and easily understood layout if it is to be used as a tool, like many historic websites are intended to be. We later read that simple does not always mean appealing, and so historians are often looking for a middle ground between the functionality of a simple layout and the visual appeal of a site that stands out with its aesthetics. Structuring the website as well as naming the website URL is what should mostly take after an approach that favors simplicity and clarity. When I think of a site that has done a great job of mixing simplicity with aesthetic, The Cool Hunter comes to mind. Yes, I understand that the content is not history related, but it definitely conveys the message of a well presented website. You’ll notice that the site is laid out similarly to a blog site, in that it is primarily vertical, yet it provides many tabs along the sides that are very simple to read and do not clash with the rest of the colors of the site.

     When considering the intended audience of the website, Cohen and Rosenzweig make some useful suggestions that may seem like they are overlapping with the structuring of the site, but what they suggest here is intended to keep a certain group of people returning to your website. Forums or discussion boards are mentioned as methods to keep the site lively and to keep people coming back. One thing that I don’t enjoy about forum discussions or comment boards on most sites is because these discussion boards tend place everyone on a level playing field in terms of the topic under discussion. Too often do I run into people writing about an issue that they have no  proper education in, which is frustrating because they normally do not respect your opposition to what they say. In any case (rant completed), the forum boards are certainly a great way to encourage people to return, as the authors pointed out, as well as having the visitors sign up for an RSS feed or registering their email addresses for updates.

And Old Bailey gets a makeover...

V for Vendetta [2005] from sekerli on Vimeo.