Web Design Information

Web design is simpler than ever, and that’s a good thing. Creating an HTML Page A web page is created using a language called, Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML Code. The key to creating a successful web site is to only use tips and codes that will enhance your visitors experience on your web site. I think it’s the way forward for web design. Making a web page that works requires a lot of sensitivity to the various forces at work. As web site designers, we always try to create a web site navigation scheme that (a) is consistent throughout the entire web site and (b) allows the site’s visitors to find what they are searching for quickly and easily. Many web newbies understand that blue, underlined text is a hyperlink. Get control over your web page’s fonts. If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer the web site will use the default font of your computer which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web fonts. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on seminars or spend hundreds of dollars on books to find out what’s wrong with your web site.

Many graphic designers who specialize in print design like to show off their design talent by creating beautiful image maps that are slow to download. Another advantage for using image maps for site navigation is that graphic designers can show a bit more creativity in designing an image map compared to designing a set of navigation buttons. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try doing complicated HTML designs. Although learning HTML and some basic web site design techniques is very important, if you want to add special effects to your web pages, you will need to learn some additional coding techniques, such as using CSS and JavaScript. Today’s simple, bold, elegant page designs deliver more with less:They enable designers to shoot straight for the site’s goals, by guiding the site visitor’s eye through the use of fewer, well-chosen visual elements. Apple’s design has always used a great balanced combination of tone (darks), rich effects and colour to draw the eye. Your corporate logo design needs to convey a comprehensive idea about your company values to the viewers. Your customer identifies you by your logo design, so much so that he or she might identify the product with your brand name, like happened in the case of Sony’s Walkman.

Not only will learning HTML coding provide you with the freedom to update your own HTML documents, but it will also save you a great deal of money, as you will be able to avoid hiring a professional web designer. Writing code by hand also ensures that you write the leanest code possible, which is the ultimate aim of all HTML geeks. But fear not: HTML has one of the easiest learning curves you’ll ever come across and you can create a basic web page with only a couple of lines.

November 30, 2009 · Filed Under Website Design

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Web Design, Development And Testing

Many organizations are interested in building web applications for their business but are unaware of the various steps that are needed to build a compelling web application. In this article I will attempt to put together the various pieces of the puzzle. Application development involves several distinct efforts that need to come together to build a compelling end product. A compelling end product is the combination of design, development architecture, development implementation, automated regression and functional testing and performance and load testing.

Design: People often confuse design with development. Moreover even within design, user interface design is often confused with graphics design. Web user interface design involves the design of the flow of the website and the layout of the specific web pages within the website. The web user interface designer concentrates on the usability of the application. The user interface designer will typically develop “wireframes” using tools like Adobe Photoshop to convey the design. These are often initially developed as prototypes and usability testing is carried with user groups out to ensure that the web application will be intuitive and easy to use. Graphics design on the other hand relates to the aesthetics of the page. The graphics designer is responsible for the aesthetic layout of the pages and the creation of the various graphical objects inside the pages such as images and flash objects. The graphics Designer will typically use a combination of tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Captivate to create the actual graphics objects. A designer will need to work closely with other groups to make sure the design process does not compromise the performance of the application by making sure that the graphics objects are small thus ensuring that the various web performance metrics are unaffected.

Development: This involves converting the design into an actual application. The development typically involves an architectural phase where the underlying modules that make up the application are scoped out. If persistent data storage is needed, a database schema should be designed to accommodate the data storage needs. The choice of the operating system (e.g. Windows, Linux or Solaris) where the web application will run, the web server (e.g. Microsoft IIS, Apache or Tomcat) which will run the web application and the back end database (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL or Postgres) which stores the data will need to be made. Various development frameworks are available to build web applications. The most common ones are ASP and ASP.NET from Microsoft, Java Servlets and JSP from Sun, PHP and Perl that are open source. The choice of the application framework is typically dictated by the strengths of the members of the development team. The architectural phase is followed by the implementation phase. This is typically the longest part of the project and during this phase the actual code is written using the design specifications and graphics objects developed by the design team. The programming will typically be done using a combination of the application frameworks mentioned earlier together with HTML, JavaScript and CSS style sheets.

Quality Assurance and Testing: A surprising number of people are of the view that quality assurance and testing is desirable but is not actually needed. Unfortunately this view has its roots in total ignorance of the process that is needed to build a good end product. Regardless of how pretty or slick we make the application, if it does not work as expected, users will reject it. Quality assurance and testing involve two different kinds of tasks. Functional and regression testing is used to verify that the developed application is doing what it is supposed to do. This is achieved by test automation using a functional testing tool. Load and Performance testing is used to ensure that the application performs as intended when it is subjected to the typical load of a production environment. Load testing is practically speaking impossible to perform without using an automated load testing tool since it involves the simulation of a large number of concurrent virtual users. This effect cannot really be achieved manually and needs the assistance of an application that is designed to subject the application to a specified load and then measure its performance when it is subjected to that load. Quality Assurance teams will need to track the bugs or defects in the application using bug tracking tools. Such tools will allow defects to be tracked by all members of the team.

The three groups mentioned above tend to be specialized for their skill set. As an example, people often make the mistake of using developers as quality assurance testers. This is not a wise strategy because most developers who are good at writing software are quite poor at finding bugs or defects in their own software.

Writing good and compelling web applications requires an understanding of all phases of the process, design, development and quality assurance. Skipping phases or taking shortcuts will result in low quality software that will generally cost more in the long run.

November 29, 2009 · Filed Under Website Design

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Nintendo Wii Video Games: A Fun Way to Exercise and Maintain Good Health

Today, more and more people are now increasingly getting conscious about their health. This is why many of them go to the gym, while others job around the block to exercise. Some people are now becoming more active by participating in physically demanding sports, such as baseball, tennis, football, and soccer.

However, have you ever thought of playing with video games as healthy? If not, then you are in for a great treat. If you love playing with video games but you also want to keep yourself fit, then you will definitely love the Nintendo Wii video game system.

Because Nintendo understands that importance of good health, they developed this revolutionary video game system as well as games that are synonymous to good health.

In the past, video games were pictured as something that can lead to a sedentary and an unhealthy lifestyle. However, this is now changing thanks to Nintendo Wii. Video games can also promote good health and at the same time, you will be able to have a lot of fun doing so.

By combining the fun and excitement that you will be able to experience playing with video games with exercising the actual muscles required to play the games, you will really break a sweat playing video games and not just exercise your thumbs and hands.

Just imagine yourself participating in the championships in a tennis game. As you wipe off that sweat in your forehead and get ready to serve, the audience goes silent to await your powerful serve. It’s already championship point and all you need is one good serve. As you swing your arms towards the ball, you scored an ace and you win the championships and the crowd goes wild. And, all these things happened right at the comforts of your own home.

It may sound impossible but with the Nintendo Wii technology, this is possible as the controls are motion sensitive and it can mimic your moves that you can see it on screen. The same goes for bowling games. What this means is that if you are a bad bowler or a bad tennis player, you may need to practice a bit. But, this is ok as this is the whole point of Nintendo Wii. You will be able to improve your gaming skills by improving the way you move.

There are also action games in Nintendo Wii which includes sword fighting and other fun and interactive games.

Today, you will see that Nintendo Wii have now released the Wii Fit. This is a fun way to exercise and relieve stress. It will monitor your progress as you play the game. Wii Fit can improve your balance, hand to eye coordination, build muscles, and it can really work your heart with cardiovascular exercise games. Think of it as your very own personal trainer.

Because of the high potential of the Nintendo Wii to promote exercise, many physical therapy facilities now have the Nintendo Wii console and Wii Fit add-ons to treat their patients. Nintendo Wii can help improve joint and muscle flexibility and it can provide you with a lot of fun doing so.

So, if you want to exercise and you also want to have a lot of fun doing so, you may want to try getting Nintendo Wii. With this video game system and the video games it offers, you will be active and keep yourself fit and healthy while experiencing the fun and excitement of playing with video games.

November 9, 2009 · Filed Under video games