At the heart of every Web site is communication: defining a problem and designing a solution that balances useful information with aesthetics that give the message a voice. Your Web site is the voice and image of your company so education on the balance between form and function is essential.

Whether you already have a Web site or are in the process of developing one, here are some fundamental Web design issues you should evaluate:

1) Download Speed
Your pages should be designed to be downloaded fairly quickly. A good Web designer will know how to make your pages much more manageable to your modem-based audience. Graphics, for example, can be designed to exploit both the characteristics of HTTP servers and the benefits of compression schemes. Many small images combined into one will load much faster than a group of smaller, individual images.

Every time your browser asks for another image from a Web server, the two need to communicate about the connection. This exchange slows down your browser considerably. But by grouping many small icons and images together and using an image map for navigation, you'll make your page load faster even though the file size may actually be larger.

2) Simplicity
Simplicity is, of course, the essence of good Web design. As our networked world grows increasingly complex, layers and streams of information constantly bombard us. If you want a successful Web site you will take control of your content and boil it down to its very essence. Your goal: Say more with less.

3) Clarity
Simple, bright, playful, entertaining - the Web has a different aesthetic than most other media does. Getting people to your pages is hard enough. But once a new user has made it through the morass of the Web to your page, you have roughly 10 seconds to make an impression, to spark interest, and to keep the user's cursor away from the Back button. Avoid confusion. Orient your users with clear navigation, and they will be drawn into your site.

How can you do this? One effective strategy is to carefully match words and pictures together, creating an eyeful of information that easily guides your users to where they want to go. Entertaining images, coupled with big headlines and relevant subheads will capture a number of different layers of attention to draw people into the site and help them find exactly what interests them. By playing the headline off the image, the two can say much more than they ever could alone. And, if that sparks any interest whatsoever, the remaining pieces of information will make the "final sell" that will entice a user to make the click.

4) Linking
One true breakthrough in this new medium is the linking together of content through hypertext - that is, the simple link. Links to other sources add depth to your Web site. Consider the very act of reading - how your mind processes letters into word patterns and then conceptually into sentences and paragraphs. Designing a page, whether on the Web or in print, often revolves around the manipulation of these patterns. Headlines, for example, break out of the paragraph mold by altering typographic variables like font, size, and color. By separating headlines and pulling quotes from the vast gray blocks of body copy, designers alert their audience to these elements, swiftly communicating their overall message.

5) Bells and Whistles
Multimedia demos vary - especially on the Web. What was once subject to gray, static text delivery can now dance and jump across the screen. Audio now streams. Video comes on demand. And Java still tries to sneak its way into pages everywhere.

Adding digital video, for example, will add a rich layer of visual excitement to your presentation, but not without a substantial cost to both speed and universality. Quite simply, the more high-bandwidth media you use, the more you will limit your audience. It's a balancing act.

6) Navigation
Organization of your Web site is the key in making it easy to navigate. It must entice the casual user who hasn't explored your site yet and keep the loyal user satisfied.

Consider how magazines entice newsstand readers into their content. They display bold, vivid images and language designed to offer both a complete understanding of the focus of the publication, while drilling down to a specific content offering, effectively satisfying two types of reader. This balance is even more crucial on the Web, where there are no physical clues to scope: Magazines and books are heavy and take up space, but Web sites do not. The most successful ones seamlessly blend the spatial, physical, and temporal, creating a complete picture of what is available behind the frontdoor.

7) Interactivity - Follow Your Audience
What truly is "interactivity"? And who wants it? Is it even a good idea?

The term "interactive" is as dangerous a buzzword as "multimedia," but it does stand for something: Users want sites that react to their desires.

At the most basic level, I want Web sites to react to me the same way the guy at my neighborhood video store does. He recognizes me, remembers the kinds of movies I like, and recommends something I haven't seen yet but am sure to enjoy. He also performs the very important task of stretching my interests to genres I may not normally sample.

Much of this sort of filtering and customization already exists on the Web. Spend some time customizing your own page to get a taste of the power of personalized content.

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