Internet Communication Fundamentals & Strategies

1. Internet Communication Fundamentals & Strategies • Effects: a communication perspective • Unique features of the Internet (Web) as a communication medium • Web design: setting reasonablegoals • Types of Web design • Basic elements of good Web Sites • Do’s and don’ts in Web design

2. Effects: A Communication Perspective A simple hierarchy of communication effects: • Behavior(actions, performances) • Attitude(beliefs, values, opinions, judgments) • Emotion(feelings, likes) • Cognition (knowledge, information, thinking process)

3. Effective Communication Communication that comes from trusted sources, reaches the targeted audience with appropriate format (means and channels) and content, and achieves the intended goals.

4. Unique Features of Internet as a Communication Means Although the Internet has “inherited” some features from the traditional media, it is distinct in several ways: • Interactivity • Non-linearity (hypertext and hyperlink) • Multimedia capability • Porous quality (in pieces) • Varying speed (connection speed dependent) • Varying browsers (IE, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, etc.) • Varying display (monitors, mostly 14” and 15”) • Almost unlimited choices (too many possible links!!)

5. The 28.8Kbps Factor About one-third of the people using the Internet are connected through 28.8Kbps modems. A bit -- a contraction of the phrase binary digit --is the most elemental unit of computer information, either a 1 or a 0. One byte is made up of 8 bits. Therefore, a 75KB (75,000-byte) file would take 20.8 seconds to transfer at 28,800 bits per second.

6. Web recent trend From text-based, to more graphically-represented. From more passively transfer information, to more “interactive,” or even more “immersive” (immersed) Example: http://flysworkshop.net/as/ Example: http://www.activeworlds.com/ or http://www.worlds.com

7. Internet Communication Goals General goals: • Information • Entertainment • Service • Marketing • Persuasion • Pure presence

8. Internet Communication Goals(Marketing) Some specific goals in marketing: • Brand-building • Direct marketing • Online sales • Customer support • Market research • Content publishing/services

9. Three Major Types of Web Sites • Brochureware • Show-biz • Utilitarian

10. Brochureware Brochureware sites are the most commonly deployed ones on the Web. They are normally static, non-interactive and boring “about-my-business”sites. http://www.spam.com/

11. Show-biz Show-biz sites mean two things: First, those misguided attempts to lure visitors to shows of products; second, flashy and showy sites that feature technical dexterity. Example: Lipton’s margarine http://www.tasteyoulove.com/

12. Utilitarian Utilitarian sites are those that offer Web surfers a genuine service and experience -- an interactive information/service utility. Federal Express’s (FedEx) site is a classic example.

13. Schools of Web Design • Early ASCII: text • Classic: three-part Web page • Modern: graphic slabs • Postmodern: fragments • Early virtual: 2D/3D scene, metaphor

14. Early ASCII: Text Influenced by the hierarchical organization common in previous information systems such as Gopher, FTP and Telnet, the early ASCII design style relies heavily on hierarchical organization and links to extend meaning. This school is obsolete. Example: a telnet web page design.

15. Early ASCII Page Example

16. Classic: Three-Part Web Page The classic three-part structure of head, body and column is popular with the use of graphical browsers because the visual impact of a single screen has more visual impact that the scrolling browsers, such as the Lynx browser. Example: our course site

17. Modern: Graphic Slabs Marked by the use of graphics to draw attention, reveal choices and provide ornament, this style runs the gamut of expressions ranging from a single-graphic slab to a mixture of graphics and text often arranged in a grid to reveal functionality. Examples: compare whitehouse.gov and amazon.com

18. Postmodern: Fragments Instead of conceiving a page as a fixed structure, a postmodern style generates a page based on user requests by the use of CGI programming to dynamically create web pages and graphics on the fly. Example: HotWired (http://www.hotwired.com/members/)

19. Early Virtual: Scene The early virtual page involves Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and can be viewed as an environment in which the room or the scene becomes a unit of attention for the user. • VRML • Adobe Atmosphere • Digital Space • Activeworlds..etc.

20. Elements of Good Web Sites • Good sites are good communities • Good sites are relevant (e.g. personalized content) • Good sites entertain (pleasing) • Good sites do not stand alone (linked)

21. Some Do’s in Web Design • Know your audience • Build in interactivity and feedback (when necessary) • Provide good and user friendly navigation • Create consistent, pleasing and efficient look and feel • Keep files short and small (45KB or below per page) • Content, content, content • Link to most relevant resources • Use graphics and multimedia only when they are necessary and efficient

22. Some Don’ts in Web Design Avoid: • monster page overloaded with information • multimedia overkill example1 • meaningless links • clown pants (disorganized pages) • KOOL design (overly fancy but empty sites) sukers worst websites