Library
Before you undertake a website, you should do some thinking. To help you with that task, here are articles on aspects of website design – how I think about it, and how you might want to think about it as well.
About having a website
Personal observations about launching oneself into the business of creating and maintaining a website.
“It’s very important to be clear, with yourself, about your motivation. Websites are expensive. Cost control should be in your mind from the beginning. At the same time, poor quality will not serve your purposes. You must find an effective balance, and all in the service of your (hopefully) clear objectives.” ...read more
What is a GOOD website?
An attempt to frame some practical measures for “goodness” in websites.
“I see three fundamental and distinct values which can be present in a good website: It meets the needs of visitors, it supports your business, and it’s manageable by you in the long haul.” ...read more
How to get started, if you’ve never had a website
A non-nonsense list of concerns to face if you want to get things underway now.
“If you want to move forward with your plan to “get a website”, what do you do first? Here’s the approach I take with everyone who seriously asks me with this question,,,” ...read more
First steps in getting your content ready for your website
How to get things going quickly, work efficiently toward your objective, and get your content ready for your website.
“Let’s assume you and I are going to work together to produce a website for you. This site might have any of several important purposes, but among them is a goal of having an online repository of content you’ve written for, or in association with, your human services practice…What do you do next?” ...read more
How to make an existing website better
Like many other things, websites require ongoing work. Why not act to see that this work actually makes the site better. Here’s how.
“Most people’s headings are unclear, off topic, and just not useful. Basically, if your headings cannot be used, as is, to outline your piece, they must be rewritten until they can.” ...read more
Fundamental errors your site CAN avoid
To win, the first thing you must do is not lose, hence the focus of this piece.
“If your site is about you, it’s a vanity site, and this makes sense only if you’re selling yourself in some way. Up to a point, as a Human Services Professional (HSP), you are – but not beyond that point.” ...read more
Fundamental virtues your site CAN display
Some conspicuously good things can manifest themselves at your website – if you act to insure that they DO.
“What is your website about? Is it obvious? How do you know? Have you had others (not your friends or clients) look at it, and then asked them what they thought it was about?” ...read more
Radically Simple Websites
The idea of a radically simple website, embodying the minimum necessary to get the job done, is laid out and justified. I describe how I go about achieving this objective.
“I assume you have a serious commitment to your work. I think your website serves you best when it reflects that – by focusing on the content of your message. This will lead to direct engagement with your message, achieved through designed-in immediacy and a sense of human, not industrial, scale. *...read more
Design values
A review of some of the key standards which I seek to exemplify in my web design work.
“I want to make explicit the core values inherent in the work I do in website design. I do have distinct preferences, and most of them are carefully thought out. They won’t please everyone, and that’s expected and entirely acceptable. But beyond that, I consider it important for people who might wish to use my skills to know what they will be getting.” ...read more
Development process
Constructing a website involves production of some very discrete elements – eight of them, in fact. Here they are.
“I believe that what you can do, in developing your website, you probably should do, so that it best reflects your desires. However, what you cannot do, or wish not to do, I can do for you.” ...read more