RE: Intro to Web Design

I think the most important place to start with web design, as with so many design projects, is the audience.

Who are you designing for? What do you want them to get from the website? What do you want them to be able to do? What level of expertise do they have?

The answers to these questions will start to move you in the correct direction. Websites that are geared towards kids don't look or function the same way as those that are geared toward adult audiences. And mixed audiences provide the biggest design challenge of all.

Is the website telling a story? Providing structured information? Inviting interaction? Requiring response? These sorts of questions can help you decide whether to focus more on tasks or information in your design.

Is some information mandatory? Are some tasks mandatory? Are different pieces of information or task aimed at different users? How much information do you actually need to convey?

How will you reach your audience? On their computers? Their mobile devices? Will it be a required site visit (i.e. a portal like MyUB)? Or is it more for entertainment?

Many of these sorts of questions are also addressed in terms of information architecture; IA and design must work together to guide the user through the site.

So, I realize this isn't much design guidance, but I think these questions can actually put you on the right track in your design. A website for a company's investors will be designed very differently from a site for a company's customers. So, by knowing your audience and what they'll be using the site for (and how), you'll be better able to pick a typeface and a layout.

Ah, parallax scrolling. It can be very cool. But it's overused, in my obviously humble opinion. I think it's best used to tell a story with supplementary (but not actually vital) information. The Space Needle's site uses parallax scrolling really well. It makes sense, contextually, to move up toward the sky with the elevator, and to have different views the higher the user goes. And providing pop up facts makes sense; the information isn't super important, but it's fun. The site is fun and experiential, which works really well for a tourist attraction. (Also, the most important information is anchored at the bottom of the page the whole time.)

http://www.spaceneedle.com/home/