Internet-Based Information Systems
459
There is a need to adhere to
Basic Principles of Style
Consistency
Regulations and Legality
In this sense, the design of not only the ‘home page’, which is the starting point for the
navigational journey, and the focal point for the user, but also the additional pages
must be designed in such a way that they fulfil these criteria.
Adherence to such criteria will undoubtedly lead to a much more interesting
page for the system user, one that is pleasant to look at, easy to understand, has
continuity between pages, is easy on the eye, is selective in what it displays and
conveys to the eye, and does not take too long to display; which may introduce a
feeling of impatience and therefore limit the desire of a person to access the page,
which in the case of an information system would be a severe disadvantage and would
therefore defeat the purpose.
The benefit of the HTML Language is that it allows the system designer (the
WebMaster) to create a customised structure and interface, not only in terms of the
screen layout, but also the amount of information displayed at any one time, the
highlights, the balance between text and graphics, as well as the degree of interaction
the user will have with the system. The system designer can easily customise the
interface to suit the application and also to meet the requirements of the potential user
base.
NAVIGATIONAL TOOLS AND THE INTERFACE
HTML permits the user to establish links between additional pages containing
information, other Home Pages, email, hotwords and so on, in a semi-structured
fashion; that is it has been structured by the designer but there is freedom for the user
to move between information pages at random.
Access to information necessitates the provision of a suitable HCI (Human
Computer Interface). The design of the HCI (see e.g. Green and Rix (1995)) is very
important because it facilitates access to a system and ultimately the information
contained in it. As an information system, the tasks people will wish to perform might
be e.g. browsing, retrieval, display, downloading, and output. Interface design in terms
of e.g. screen layout, provision of key tools, colouring, menu structure, syntax, and
terminology, and error messages are all important considerations to help the user. It is
essential to make the work environment as pleasing and as simple to use as possible,
and to help overcome the potential to bore the user, to distract from the task being
carried out, and so on.
One of the major benefits of the Internet Browsers e.g. Microsoft Internet
Explorer and Netscape is that they run under MS-Windows, for example, and provide
a very user-friendly, task-specific interface with a range of simple, yet powerful, tools.
These tools allow the user to view, display, retrieve, send and capture information over
459
There is a need to adhere to
Basic Principles of Style
Consistency
Regulations and Legality
In this sense, the design of not only the ‘home page’, which is the starting point for the
navigational journey, and the focal point for the user, but also the additional pages
must be designed in such a way that they fulfil these criteria.
Adherence to such criteria will undoubtedly lead to a much more interesting
page for the system user, one that is pleasant to look at, easy to understand, has
continuity between pages, is easy on the eye, is selective in what it displays and
conveys to the eye, and does not take too long to display; which may introduce a
feeling of impatience and therefore limit the desire of a person to access the page,
which in the case of an information system would be a severe disadvantage and would
therefore defeat the purpose.
The benefit of the HTML Language is that it allows the system designer (the
WebMaster) to create a customised structure and interface, not only in terms of the
screen layout, but also the amount of information displayed at any one time, the
highlights, the balance between text and graphics, as well as the degree of interaction
the user will have with the system. The system designer can easily customise the
interface to suit the application and also to meet the requirements of the potential user
base.
NAVIGATIONAL TOOLS AND THE INTERFACE
HTML permits the user to establish links between additional pages containing
information, other Home Pages, email, hotwords and so on, in a semi-structured
fashion; that is it has been structured by the designer but there is freedom for the user
to move between information pages at random.
Access to information necessitates the provision of a suitable HCI (Human
Computer Interface). The design of the HCI (see e.g. Green and Rix (1995)) is very
important because it facilitates access to a system and ultimately the information
contained in it. As an information system, the tasks people will wish to perform might
be e.g. browsing, retrieval, display, downloading, and output. Interface design in terms
of e.g. screen layout, provision of key tools, colouring, menu structure, syntax, and
terminology, and error messages are all important considerations to help the user. It is
essential to make the work environment as pleasing and as simple to use as possible,
and to help overcome the potential to bore the user, to distract from the task being
carried out, and so on.
One of the major benefits of the Internet Browsers e.g. Microsoft Internet
Explorer and Netscape is that they run under MS-Windows, for example, and provide
a very user-friendly, task-specific interface with a range of simple, yet powerful, tools.
These tools allow the user to view, display, retrieve, send and capture information over