Chapter 14 reading

Chapter 14 of the reading focused mainly on aesthetics related to the use of images of websites. The chapter covered several different issues related to this topic, and gave a few main points on each. The first point they made was to use background images on websites sparingly, especially when there is text present on a layer above them, they can easily make a page hard to read. The next point made was that the purpose of an image on a website shoul be clear, in that images which are clickable should be easily recognized as clickable, and images related to text should be close to the text.

Images are often a mjor factor in how fast web pages load. The text recommends splitting large images up into smaller pieces to short load times, and also load times under 5 seconds were considered to be good, 5-10 ok, and over 10 not worth their time.

Audio and video should be used to support an idea on a site, they should not be used just for the sake of using them. They claim this should also be applied to logos. Also important is to not make any of the images on the site look like ad banners, because users will avoid looking at them. Making navigation, for example, look like an add banner would be a grave mistake. Designers should also choose images which users will relate to or be familiar with as opposed to oscure ones that they might not be able to fully associate with the message the website is conveying.

The next section advises designers to use images sparingly on websites, and to only add them where they will in some way enhance the website. It also advises designers to pick images which will not be distracting to the user ( find this a little strange since most images on a website will detract a user's attention from the text based content).

The next section advises the use of charts and graphs when representing data, since it will aid the user in understanding and visualizing what they website is trying to communicate about the data.

Animations should have introductions (i believe "and or") text explaining what they are illustrating. (Some animation is purely decorative though, I wouldn't think that it would need explanation).

Mimicking real life in designs, especially functional designs can aid in user's understanding what they are supposed to do, or how they are supposed to interact with a particular interface.

Thumbnails can help load times on websites because they only load a small preview of the full sized image and you can have multiple thumbnails on a page without inreasing the load time too much. thumbnails will however often increase the number of pages within the website.

The final few points of the chapter were that designers should use images instead of text wherever possible to communicate a message to a user. images are often easier to comprehend and can be universal. (Although we learned last week about how this can differ from culture to culture). Also, photographs whihc support a website are helpful in that they create an atmosphere within the website which leads a user to trust the organization who's website they are viewing. Users are more apt to trust sites with photographs on them.