Establishing visual relationships: Within a hierarchy, groups of information are assigned levels of precedence, depending on users' needs. But because the hierarchy forms the foundation of the site, its structure is not always apparent to the users. A well-designed site, however, applies visual design techniques to these groups of information, communicating a visual precedence to the user. Content important to users should be located in a dominant position on the page and should have visual attributes which facilitate quick recognition (Sano 144). (7.2)

7.2 Dominant Elements

The large centered image indicates that Apple wants to draw users' attention to the new PowerBook laptop. But is Apple's new laptop important to the user? Apple is advertising its new products rather than providing access to a wide choice of information.