News
 10
Design Do’s and Don’ts for Next-gen Web 2.0
Web 2.0 was recently defined by Kevin Messing,
creative director at Fry Inc, as being the
“second-generation Internet technologies that drive
a better user experience online.” Stephanie Diamond,
founder of Digital Meida Works, Inc, says “Some find
the principles of Web 2.0 life altering, others say
it's pure hype. But whichever camp you are in, you
can't ignore the fact that business is
changing—especially online.”
In his presentation at the recent ACCM conference in
Chicago, Messing said “Web 2.0 is a new approach to
creating and distributing content online,
characterized by open communication and
decentralized sources of content.” Here are his
practical do’s and don’ts for starting to use this
next-generation set of Web design tools:
Do’s:
1. Break out of the page-by-page Web site structure.
Provide a naturally intuitive experience similar to
that of desktop applications. Sites such as Gap.com
and buildyourown.circuitcity.com (Circuit City’s
home theater configurator) use this site structure.
2. Give the details. Provide your customers with
robust product descriptions that are available at
the product detail level rather than just at the end
of the checkout process or in an order confirmation
e-mail. Blue Nile does an “amazing job” by providing
detailed drawings in a pop-up window that explain
how the clasp of a bracelet works or how a diamond
is set, the panelists pointed out. Also, prominently
place information about guarantees and privacy
policies.
3. Engage the community. Allow site visitors to
share information such as tags, ratings, reviews,
playlists, etc. For examples of sites that use tags,
check out etsy.com and flickr.com.
4. Re-evaluate e-commerce metaphors, i.e., shopping
carts, wish lists, etc. For example, “deliver on the
shopping cart metaphor by placing a bar along the
top or side of the page that expands when the
shopper wants to see what she’s placed inside,”
Messing said. He cautioned retailers not to take
customers to a separate shopping cart page to
prevent them from getting lost. Retailers can also
enable pop-up windows to provide shoppers with more
information on a featured product so they don’t have
to click through to a new page.
5. Decentralize Web content, providing the freedom
to share, re-mix and re-use content (i.e., via
really simple syndication and XML). Messing noted
that Apple.com and epicurious.com use this
technology.
Don’ts
1. Don’t assume customers want to spend a lot of
time on your site. For example, try to avoid forced
things like password hints, forced login to checkout
(which both the Wal-Mart and Target sites do, they
noted), forced e-mail address at checkout to collect
e-mail addresses for the company e-mail list (i.e.,
Gap.com).
2. Don’t give your customers inaccurate information.
In fact, include information about actual shipping
costs, shipping duration and merchandise
availability.
3. Don’t write cryptic error messages. For example,
use the phrase, “Please enter your password,”
instead of, “This string is shorter than the minimum
allowed length.”
4. Don’t forget to link your logo to the domain
homepage. For example, on its overstock pages, the
Lands’ End logo doesn’t take shoppers back to the
main Landsend.com homepage, which Messing said makes
for an awkward experience.
5. Don’t overbuild your site. Think about what your
customers really want, and if you want to extend or
build on that experience, test it and provide
scaffolding to help bridge customers to your new
feature or technology.
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Melissa Data
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