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August 27, 1996
What's a designer to do? First, it's the hype of CD-ROM and now, the promise of the Internet. But just how easy is it to take content from one medium and apply it to the other? This article explains how one designer approaches the transition from CD-ROM to online from a philosophical point of view.
Introduction
Dive Right In
Fixed versus Fluid
Publishing Model versus Narrowcast Model
Flat Is Where It's At
Make Every Click Count
Image May Not Be Everything
Culture Rules
In the Beginning ...
The Last Word
Jeanine Spence has been working on the upcoming online extensions to Microsoft® Encarta World Atlas, Automap's Trip Planner, and Streets Plus. Although the product launch isn't until later this year and she can't talk about specifics, Jeanine has developed a sophisticated, high-level approach that will help make the transition from CD-ROM to the Web successful. In this article, we'll see what she advises for authors and designers who are involved in a similar task.
Jeanine contends that taking information from a CD-ROM format to online delivery is neither a hop nor a skip, but a definite cold-water plunge. "We're taking the approach that this is an evolutionary process that results in the development of an entirely new product."
The reason for such a drastic approach lies in the profound differences between the two delivery systems.
With CD-ROM development, you design for a fixed operating system. With online, however, the process is more fluid. "It's as if the media is designed without a specific operating system in mind," says Jeanine. Not only do you have to design for an unknown browser, you don't know the limitations of individual machines or the choices individual users might make with variables such as screen size or font type. However, according to Jeanine, making these decisions and getting a site up and running is only the beginning of the online challenge!
The transition between CD-ROM and online implies a shift from a publishing model to a model that broadcasts information to a specific audience or interest group (this is called the "narrowcast model"). With the publishing model, once the product is shipped, that's the end of it--the content will not change until the next development cycle. Only operational support (to help the user make the best use of the final product) is required.
Online services that follow the narrowcast model, on the other hand, require continuous upkeep. "The more users we have, the more responsibility we have in terms of maintaining content freshness," says Jeanine. The narrowcast model can add significant expense to the content development cycle, but there are some effective ways to manage this effort.
Using templates is one way to make the extensive job of refreshing content a little easier. To create a template, Jeanine's group uses a mark-up language to define the layout, and notations that pull information in from a database. The templates make it much easier to revise article titles, photos, photo captions, legal credit information, and similar types of information--they don't have to go in and retouch everything by hand. "We can just update what needs updating, add some totally new content, and leave the rest alone," Jeanine explains.
While a template structure helps minimize this type of "re-work," giving equal weight to all elements through a flatter, more horizontal structure makes things even easier. This guideline results in less branching and well-defined menu choices. Jeanine suggests designing your home page to contain clear, meaningful options for the user and concentrating on keeping the entry point fresh and active during the maintenance phase.
As for navigation and scrolling, Jeanine feels that even four screens per Web "page" are too many and advises, "Don't limit options by putting the core navigational system at the bottom of the last screen, forcing your users to scroll down to get to the next point."
The delivery mechanism for online content imposes the reality of slower response time, which tends to discourage clicking. This is a major shift in the emphasis from the quick load, quick click, and quick response of CD-ROM.
Because of the slower response time, Jeanine thinks that most content within the site should be a single click away. Even the deepest layers of the site should be only two clicks down.
Even now, online time equals money spent by the user. (Imagine what will happen when a service fee becomes standard!) According to Jeanine, this expense results in the user's reluctance to spend time exploring and downloading graphics.
Thus, designers should think long and hard about how much emphasis to place on graphic elements. Jeanine encourages the use of as much HTML text as possible, and recommends weighting the size of the picture based on the importance of its visual content to the page. "The bigger the image, the more important its message should be," Jeanine says.
When pictures are called for, she encourages designers to provide a small picture with an option to download a larger image if the user so chooses.
The current online culture appears to place more value on gathering information, which means that the driving force is searching, sorting, and indexing, rather than narrative structures that immerse and entertain.
"Quick access, rapid download, and full search capability are key," Jeanine emphasizes.
Jeanine suggests having a great hook at the top of your Web page and giving the user an overview of what to expect from the rest of the page. Jeanine admits that this approach is a bit like telling the end of a story ("You certainly wouldn't read novels if they started that way"), but says that this method definitely works online.
"We see going online as a way to enhance and extend the user's access and experience of all our products in general, " concludes Jeanine. She adds that publishing online is especially useful as a way to create a sense of community with the people around the world who use and enjoy your products.
Luanne Brown writes both fiction and non-fiction for multiple media.
Photo Credit: Michael Moore/Microsoft Corporate Photographer
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