MY TAKE ON WEB DESIGN
A web site is the focal point of all marketing and advertising activities or initiatives for any organization. It is quite simply the least expensive full-color, magazine quality, instantly updatable ad media that anyone can have. A website allows small businesses to compete for business with large companies on a level playing field. Everything from corporate stationary, store signage, email marketing, product packaging and terminology, to sales promotions and corporate imaging begins with the website. It is critical then, that care be taken to build a site that is cross-platform and be able to be viewed by the widest possible audience, as the site is intended to look by it's designers.

SIMPLE, INTUITIVE DESIGN
Many sites today are difficult to navigate. Try looking for a phone number or tech support information on large corporate sites. It's there but hidden. A site should be simple and intuitive. Viewers spend an average of 8-10 seconds a page when they are looking for specific material. Rules of thumb, like always showing contact information on pages and always having an easy way to go home are a couple of traits I like. Having a search utility on large sites. Does the site have a clear focus of the organization's image, vision and products? The site should offer a easy path to information and offer a stimulating visual experience to the viewer. This benefits the organization and the viewer.

TECHNOLOGY
Flash or no Flash? Usually the answer lies in budgetary constraints. Actually there has been a running argument about whether Flash has provided all the "boom" it was promised to provide. On some platforms Flash applications get buggy and slow a viewer's machine down. It is not easy to learn, and thus finding a skilled programmer is challenging. Many companies decide to keep Flash to a splash page. Useful? Debatable. Is it cool? Yes. Absolutely. Even though you can use technology should you? Are your bells and whistles inhibiting viewers from staying on your site? HTML 5 is a new version of HTML which [they say] will take the place of Flash and be more cross platform compliant. We will see.

DATABASES
Databases are, in my mind the most interesting technology there is. That we can combine a web interface to a sophisticated database and create dynamic pages on the fly, based on a query is amazing technology. I designed a inventory control database system [Visual FoxPro] for our company that allowed for 'in-process' costing of our raw materials. We manufactured all the wool yarn used in the construction of Major League Baseballs. We would create 30,000 lb. batches of different wool staple raw material ingredients. Mixed all together, an employee would feed the ingredients into a hopper to begin the process. More art than science. But how to track these fractions as they went through the process? We created a color coded 'tear-off' tag system so we could measure fractions of bales. Our inventory not only became instantly more accurate, but amazingly quick as well. We reduced access time from two days to two minutes. The database allowed us to track costing of materials through the whole manufacturing process. The database design was modular, so we were able to add on finished product sales and see margins. A web interface or a private corporate intranet allowed everyone to query the system to see what was happening, when and how much. Databases are cool.