A Warren Lynch Associates Company

Much of the World-Wide-Web, today, looks as if it's been programmed by a nineteen-year-old college freshman who mis-spent his youth on too much Nintendo and mindless television programming. That's because most of the web was programmed by nineteen-year-old college freshmen who mis-spent their youth on too much Nintendo and mindless television programming.

The internet is NOT a television. And attempts to treat it as such inevitably result in slow-loading web pages that are artistically confused and less effective as communications tools than they could be. The web more closely follows the metaphor provided by USA Today or People magazine. That means the old, "Who, What, When, Where and How?" applies. . . in spades! It's primarily a reader's exercise, a means of presenting information to someone who's already interested and has actually asked for it. From a sales or recruiting standpoint, when a surfer looks up your web page the pre-sale contact is already a confirmed, "Yes." It follows, therefore, that anything that works well in any other business presentation will probably work well on a web page. But, if you wouldn't use slapstick comedy, or flashing lights in a conference room meeting, you probably shouldn't use them on your web page either.

This business is about contrast and information. The web is like any other publishing medium. It is visual in nature, and therefore visual contrast is important. It affects both read-time and comprehension. The mind seeks to separate information into digestible pieces, and then to analyze them. If the publisher inhibits this visual dissection, it distracts from, and lessens, the message. Colors and brightness affect mood and perception. Dirty beige might not be the right color for for a Web page. Fluorescent yellow might not either. What's the MESSAGE? All other design issues flow from this simple question.

It's not all bad out there. And, I've seen home-grown work that far exceeds some very expensive corporate attempts. I just have my own opinions about how to make a business presentation. And, make no mistake about it, a web page is a BUSINESS presentation. Remembering that will go a long way towards effectively directing the design process.

Warren Lynch

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