Chapter 5, Problem 1HOE

Explanation of Solution

a. URL of the website: http://www.soa.ac.in/iter/

b. Name of the website: ITER- SIKSHA ‘O’ ANUSANDHAN

c. Target audience: This site focuses on the young engineering children, parents and staff of the university.

d. Screenshot of the homepage:

e. Navigation evident: main navigation, site search, and site index.

f. The four basic principles of design are as follows:

• Repetition:
  • In this principle, same or similar elements are used again and again in the design. In some designs, repetition of certain elements brings the sense unity, consistency and cohesiveness.
• Contrast:
  • The meaning of contrast is difference. This becomes the key of energy to any design and helps in in developing an element that is different than the already existing element. This also helps in creating a design in which one item is dominant and helps the users to get the point of the design quickly.
• Proximity:
  • This principle of proximity deals with moving the elements closer or farther apart. This gives more organized look to the slide as the related items are grouped together rather than many unrelated elements.
• Alignment:
  • This principle helps in connecting the elements of the same slide and even the elements that are quite far apart. When this principle is neglected, slides do not look sophisticated and professional.

Explanation:

• The use of the four principles varies with the homepages.
• In this site, the repetition principle is used in many cases like using the image of the school in one or more pages.
• The contrast principle can be used to have many contrasting pages in the homepage.
• The proximity principle helps the users to identify the related items in the homepage which makes it easy and quick to understand the topic.
• The alignment principle makes the homepage more professional, organized and   attractive.

g. Evaluation of the most important Web Design best practices for the site named http://www.soa.ac.in/iter/:

• Page layout:

Appealing to the target audience	Yes
Consistent navigation area	Yes
Page footer area includes the copyright	Yes
Page footer area includes the last update, contact e-mail address	No
Good use of basic design principles: repetition, contrast, proximity, and alignment...