1. Web Design: Core Concepts
Design as Problem Solving & Core Design Principles
Don Stanley
3Rhino Media | UW-Madison
www.3rhinomedia.com
don@3rhinomedia.com
608 561 7097
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

2. What is Design?
Clutter and confusion are failures of design,
not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

3. What is Design?
Clutter and confusion are failures of design,
not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
Problem Solving/Sense Making
DESIGN = Communication
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

4. What is Design?
Clutter and confusion are failures of design,
not attributes of information” -- Prof. Ed Tufte
Problem Solving/Sense Making
DESIGN = Communication
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

5. Why Study Design?
Vision trumps all other senses when it comes to our
brain. Our brain is highly attuned to the sense of vision.
Recognition and recall soar with pictures. According to
John Medina, Ph.D., if we hear a piece of information,
three days later we will remember 10% of it.
Add a picture and you will remember 65%!
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

6. Interfaces Impact Experience
Interface design refers to what we see and interact
with. What we see has a huge influence on our
experience (Don Norman, Ph.D.)
User Experience Our experience determines if we
will interact with a product or tool. And we have
choices.
Consider these two text blocks …
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

7. Interface Design, UX, How We
Use

8. Interface Design, UX, How We
Use
Interface design refers to what we see. What we see has
a huge influence on our experience (Don Norman, Ph.D.)
User Experience: Our experience determines if we will
interact with a product or tool. And we have choices

9. Think Like a Human
Usability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

10. Think Like a Human
Usability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
Fact #2: We don’t make optimal choices, we
satisfice
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

11. Think Like a Human
Usability Expert Steve Krug says “Don’t Make Me Think”
Fact #1: We don’t read pages, we scan them
Fact #2: We don’t make optimal choices, we
satisfice
Fact #3: We don’t figure out how things work. We
muddle through because it works enough.
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Spring 2013

13. Reality

14. Design is a Planned Process
Web communication involves creating an organized plan to
improve a site to better serve customers and drive desired
business outcomes.”
- Leigh Duncan
4 Phase Plan, the 4Ds:
1. Discovery
2. Design & Dictate
3. Develop
4. Deploy and Determine
DON STANLEY | @3rhinomedia | Fall 2012

15. Discovery: Most Important D
The Law of the Vital Few –
aka Pareto’s Principle
Why do most organizations fail? Let’s take a look …

16. Law of the Unvital Many

17. Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this
site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?

18. Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this
site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical
audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important
visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for?
Connections?

19. Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this
site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical
audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important
visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for?
Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming
to your site? What do they get?

20. Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this
site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical
audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important
visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for?
Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming
to your site? What do they get?
ACTIONS: What activities do they need to need to take to achieve their
goals? (watch a video, sign up for email, download something, etc.)

21. Discovery: Questions to Consider
TARGET/TARGET ACTION: What is your target? Why are you creating this
site? Sales? Contacts? Build Audience? Thought Leader? Build Brand?
KEY AUDIENCE: Please list your audiences. Who is the most critical
audience you need to connect with? Please describe the most important
visitors? How often are they online? What do they use the web for?
Connections?
PROBLEM SOLVING: What problem does your audience solve by coming
to your site? What do they get?
ACTIONS: What activities do they need to need to take to achieve their
goals? (watch a video, sign up for email, download something, etc.)
BUILD AUDIENCE: What is the best way to share this with your key
audience? How do you promote your site?

22. Design CRAP: Contrast
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with
color, size, shape, placement. What does contrast do?
• It provides a road map of what’s important
• It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
• It differentiates elements so readers know what you think is
important
• It brings out dominant elements
• It mutes lesser elements
• It creates dynamism
Think google.com

23. Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of
information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
It differentiates elements
It brings out dominant elements
It mutes lesser elements
It creates dynamism
Think google.com

24. Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of
information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
It differentiates elements
It brings out dominant elements
It mutes lesser elements
It creates dynamism
Think google.com

25. Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of
information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
It differentiates elements
It brings out dominant elements
It mutes lesser elements
It creates dynamism
Think google.com

26. Design CRAP: Repetition
REPETITION - repeating the use of various elements such as color,
size, layout, typefaces, image styles to convey meaning. How
does this apply to navigation? Headers? Multiple pages?

27. Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of
information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
It differentiates elements
It brings out dominant elements
It mutes lesser elements
It creates dynamism
Think google.com

28. Design CRAP: Alignment
ALIGNMENT - Alignment is another way of creating associations
between visual elements, which help users quickly understand
the relationships of objects on a page.

29. Design CRAP: Contrast
Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of
information” -- Ed Tufte
CONTRAST - Making key elements stand out with color, size, shape,
It guides the users eye, swiftly and effortlessly
It differentiates elements
It brings out dominant elements
It mutes lesser elements
It creates dynamism
Think google.com

30. Design CRAP: Contrast

31. Design CRAP: Proximity
PROXIMITY - Elements that are related should be visually
connected. Likewise, elements that are not related should be
visually separated. Use whitespace, colors, backgrounds, etc.
Let’s look at an example of the principles in action.

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38. Action