Hunt B. - Save The Pixel. The Art of Simple Web Design [2008, PDF, ENG]

Preface: The Art of Simple Web Design
The essence of the “Save the Pixel” philosophy; web design disciplines, including “Enough and no
more”, Occam's Razor, “Design the Content – not the box”, and “Think-then-do”.
1. Why are we here?
Knowing your own purpose; tips to get simple, realistic, specific goals; applying “Think-then-do”
to goals.
2. Make a site for its visitors
Your visitors are your friends! Clarify who's going to use your web site, what they want, and what
signs will check the little boxes in their heads; Affirming positives.
3. Spread the smell of success
How to retain visitors' trust and achieve the site's goals by moving visitors smoothly towards
their own goals; Win-win solutions.
4. The simple shall inherit the world wide web
How simplicity is good for everyone – and good business sense; the power of conventions; when
to break conventions; be smart, not clever.
5. Getability and the brand
How to make every page on your web site instantly understandable; How to develop a brand for
the web.
6. Layout
The first goal of layout is great getability; understanding and assigning screen real estate;
columns; cascade; ownership & containment; focal point.
7. Navigation
Navigation helps people know where they are, where they can go, and gives them the means to
get there easily; what mechanisms to use; what options to show; labelling navigation options;
ordering your options.
8. Noticeability
How to manage the visitor's attention to help them stay on the site and find what they want;
how to use size, contrast, boldness, colour, space, illusion of 3D, and movement to manage the
eye and draw attention to the most relevant elements; how noticeability changes down the
page; ignorability.
9. Give me space
The vital importance of space in noticeability; how to get the right balance; the golden rule of
spacing; space should be relative to size; why space is better than pixels.
10. Design your content
Great web page design keeps the focus on meaningful content, not on the background that's
common to every page; tips for writing better text and using imagery effectively.