Graphics

Graphics attract attention because they draw the eye to a particular area of the screen. Why spend five paragraphs describing your product when a single image will tell people exactly what you are taking about? In an age of special effects and short attentions spans, graphics are great, even necessary.

There is a downside to using graphics on the Internet. It's called bandwidth. The bandwidth of the Internet is the pipeline in which all your information flows. It's the speed that data moves between your site and the person waiting patiently at the other end. Therefore, be prepared to sacrifice some quality for speed.

Avoid using large graphics that don't add to the content of the page.

Remember that browsers have a lot of user-configured features that can interfere with the interface. In other words, don't make the user guess where to click.

Don't replace bullets and horizontal rules with images, because this takes up bandwidth and confuses the user. If you use images as bullets, your visitors may try clicking on them and wonder why nothing happens.

Find out what your visitors do most often at your site and make that the easiest thing to do. This is a good rule to follow when determining the size and placement of interface elements.

Avoid putting too many interface elements on the same page. Some sites present the visitor with a bewildering array of image maps, buttons, text links and images to click on. The effect can be overwhelming.

Don't use colored, textured or graphic backgrounds unless absolutely necessary. While they may look fine on your browser, they could end up looking different on someone else's computer. Busy backgrounds are distracting and can make text hard to read.

Don't blink graphics or text unless to indicate an emergency as it is distracting and annoys some people.

If you use an image map, make sure that you include a text list with identical items for those who are confused by your map or are using a browser where images are not being loaded. Locate this alternative list as close to the image map as possible to avoid confusion. Make sure the list contains all the items on the map and that they are in the same order.

In general, keep the user interface simple and uncluttered.