Designers must focus on the whole, the web site, rather than the individual parts, the web pages: "Thinking in terms of web pages or home pages too easily limits [the designer's] field of vision to the trees and not the forest" (Rosenfeld and Morville xvii). Web pages emerge after the guidelines and structure have been developed for the entire site. Placing emphasis on individual pages can result in an incoherent design. The relationship between pages is weakened, and the overall site will lack consistency and integrity.

Challenges & Constraints of the Web

The challenges of web design begin with on-screen reading--many people find it more difficult to read from a screen than from a printed page (Holzschlag 34). Popular design techniques for print, such as columns of text, do not function well on web sites. Users prefer not to scroll down one column of text, only to have to scroll back up to read the next. Conciseness is of great importance on the web. Sentences and paragraphs have to be short because users avoid reading large amounts of material on screen. Content needs to be visible at a glance. If the information is hidden, users will become frustrated.

Because web sites are nonlinear, users can easily become disoriented while browsing through sites (Sano 66). New users are especially susceptible to this effect when they navigate through a site's various levels. But a poorly structured site can confuse even the most experienced user. Users need to anticipate where a link will take them. They need to see the relationship between the page they are viewing and the overall site. Thus, designers need to ensure that users always know where they are in a web site, including the level they are on and the section they are under. (2.6)