To determine what information is important for interactive forms you must understand the goal of the form. What is the information needed? Also, what information do you want the user to know? Depending on the types of information you will have the user submit will determine the fields you will use in the form.
The basic essentials are these: For text and numeric data you will use text and combo boxes. If you provide the information for the user to select, you may choose from radio buttons, lists, or combo boxes. Of course, you may want the user to select multiple options. The use of check boxes or list boxes will work nicely for multiple options. The use of buttons is a no-brainer. Whether it is text or looks like a button, you will use buttons to interact with the user to open files, play sound, movies, or submitting or clearing form data.
Have you thought about security and/or validation? You might consider using digital signature to verify the user’s identity and form validation is the process of checking a form’s values against a standard of expected values. It is a way to proofread or spell check what your user has entered as input. An example would be an expected 9 number combination and the user entered an email address. This would return as invalid content. Typically checked are empty fields, valid and well formed email addresses, dates, and the aforementioned a number entered in a text expected field (or vice-verse). If the tested field contains the expected input then the result is returned true and the form data is expected to be good data. It is important to use validation for online forms to add an extra bit of reliability and save time by ensuring a certain level of quality.
Control is what most expect when navigating the web. Users of menus should feel like they know where they are and where they’re going to go. Interactive websites benefit from menus and navigation by allowing the user to feel confident they are at the right location and where to go next. Menus and navigation allow the user to browse in sequence, randomness or in circles and still have a sense they are within the same domain.
Menus and navigation serve beneficial to the user by allowing the user to initially land on any page and be able to continue without breaking stride. Too often I have landed on a page and wondered how I could manipulate the URL in the address bar to get to another page within the same domain. In this scenario a clear menu structure would serve very beneficial. http://amazon.com is a fine example as well as my reference, webstyleguide.com.
The use of animation can make your website outstanding or ridiculous. Let’s focus on the outstanding. Your website might be the only contact or the initial contact of your perspective clients and visitors. You better make an impact, a positive impact.
What is my call to action? What the heck am I supposed to do? A website that immediately urges the user to the action you desire them to take is going to stand out from the rest. Quality animation can help you with user-friendly interactivity that keeps them coming back.
Humans naturally recognize differences and amplify attention to those changes in their environment. Animation is an asset when used to bring a logo to life, even briefly, and when adding a bit of sparkle to improve the clarity of an active button.
Hans Rosling in California on statistics and using animation to make an impact of his presentation and speech. Go to minute 4:00 to see the animation being used.
I mentioned in my last post that the user should be able to get through the website and know what’s going on. A lot of animation can be a distraction and could cause the user to leave your site without completing the task you attracted the user there in the first place. The site should be as simple as possible to navigate. I read somewhere before that each page should look as if it were and serve as a possible landing page. I know I’ve often landed on something other than the “home” page and wondered how to get “home” for the substance and contact information. I really don’t like the feeling that the “contact” information is hidden from me. Maybe, a search engine feature is not such a bad idea, even for our 5 page project.
Without a clear purpose, how can a project be streamlined for success?
Organizational framework may call for a storyboard to help resolve a lot of confusion. A storyboard may just be what’s prescribed for a large project with different contributing divisions. Storyboards offer a visual identity for the script writers, developers, graphic artists, technical editors, and of course the client. With a visual reference for everyone to point to, omissions are more likely to be recognized and pointed out. With the use of a document control system, all users will be able to modify and add to the storyboard when required. Or, the users will be able to reference the storyboard to answer development questions. Without a visual reference, everyone could assume to be in agreement and find out later each had something different in mind. Again, saving time and money and maybe saving a few tears also.
Of course we all want dazzling websites. But, I’ve seen sites where maybe there is too much emphasis placed on the visual and not enough on the functionality of the site. I’ve looked at the site and wondered what the heck the purpose is of the site or what I was supposed to get from the site. So, planning is important to help alleviate some of the confusion met at the latter stages of development.
You might think you know your business well enough, but establishing a hard copy goes a long way to helping communicate to yourself and others about your company; services, purpose, goals and target market. Researching these topics/items will aid in the development process of your website and keep everyone on track. This will save time, money and help ensure your site ends up serving your needs.
As a developer, the website should stay within the bounds of your ability to create useful content while showing the website will work and care for the users’ demands. It’s great to have endless or boundless ideas, but even as a beginner, or because I am a beginner, I recognize that there are limits.
상진 : 늦었다!
I’m late!
유진 : 천천히 먹어. 체(滯, indigestion; dyspepsia; stomach disorders) 하겠어.
Slow down. You’ll get sick.
이거 마셔.
Drink this.
상진 : 아… 죽을 번 했다.
Oh, that was close.
로이, 나 2만원만 빌려줘.
Roy, lend me 20000 won.
로이 : 나 현금 없는데.
I have no cash.
상진 ; 유진아.
You-jin.
유진 : 내가 무슨 선배 은행이야? 맨날 나한테 돈빌려 달라고 그러게?
Am I your bank or what? You always ask me to lend you money.
상진 : 나 차비도 없고 밥 값도 없단 말이야.
You-jin, I have no money for the bus, lunch, etc…
아 빨리, 나 늦었단 말이야!
유진 : 이번 한번만이야.
Just this once.
상진 : 알았어.
Got it!
로이 : 형, 서두르지마.
Sang-jin, don’t rush.
유진 ; 근데 선배가 언제 수업에 늦었다고 서두르지?
Since when does he rush to class?
로이 : 몰랐어? 형 지금 소개팅 가는거야.
Didn’t you know? He’s off fo a blind date right now.
유진 : 뭐?
What?
무슨 소리지?
What was that?
로이 : 형 소리인 것 같은데?
I think it’s Sang-jin.
형, 왜 그래?
Hey, what happened?
상진 : 계단에서 굴러…
The stairs…
유진 : 넘어졌어?
You fell?
상진 : 넘어질 뻔 했어.
I almost fell.
유진 ; 뭐야? 넘어진 것도 아니면서 왜이렇게 비명을 질러댔어?
What was that? You yelled without even falling?
상진 : 야 그럼 너는 내가 계단에서 굴러 넘어졌으면 좋겠냐?
Then would you rather I tumbled down the stairs?
로이 : 그럼 왜 다시 돌아온거야?
Then why did you come back?
상진 : 계단에서 넘어질 뻔 하면서, 벽에 머리를 약간 부딪혔거든,
In the course of almost falling down the stairs, I slightly hit my head on the wall.
내 머리스타일 안망가졌냐?
How is my hair? Is my hair messed up?
로이 : 어.
no.
상진 : 후… 다행이다. 이 스타일 만드느라 두시간 넘게 공 들였거든.
whew, what a relief. because I spent more than two hours on my hair today.
나 간다~.
Well, I’m leaving now.
유진 : 허… 뭐야…
what’s with him?
