Web Systems Design and Online Consumer Behavior [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Research Summaries on Web Design

In spite of numerous practical guidelines on Web design, there are few academic publications
in this area. In the digital economy, developing an influential multinational Internet presence
requires designing Web sites to attract more potential customers in a diverse multi-cultural
environment. An effective Web site acquires a broad audience. But achieving this goal needs
considerable effort. Robbin et al. (2003) developed a conceptual model that differentiates Web site
content from design. The content component addresses the issue of
what is included in the site and identifies the various types of information and Web elements. The
design component addresses layout and navigational structures and
features. In their exploration of global Web design, Robbins et al. found that the majority of Web
site content features were significantly different across
various cultural groups, but that the design features are
similar across cultures. In addition, there appeared to be little association between the content
and design features and industry. Robbins et al.’s (2003) investigation of accessibility issues of
Web sites concludes that globally accessible Web sites improve corporations’ ability to communicate
with a wide variety of stakeholders.

Applen (2002) examines tacit knowledge, knowledge management and active user participation in
Web site navigation. Consistent interface design improves the performance of users. Ozok and
Salvendy (2001) use a comprehensive approach to develop an instrument to measure all aspects of
computer interface consistency and assess the impact of linguistic inconsistency of interface
design on user performance. Experiments were conducted with 140 subjects using four different tasks
and eight different interface types to verify the reliability of the instrument. Nine factors were
identified as influential factors to interface consistency: text structure, general text features,
information representation, lexical categories, meaning, user knowledge, text content,
communicational attributes and physical attributes.

Issues, Problems

In its origins and continued rapid expansion and development, the WWW is essentially an open
environment. It is global in nature, and so no regulatory bodies can enforce rules about Web
content, information distribution or security. It is left to the individual user to solve the
threats posed by virus attacks, pop-ups, especially those with adult content, and other
inappropriate banner ads. In a dynamic environment, anti-virus software struggles to catch up with
virus attacks. Educated Web users who are security conscious update anti-virus definitions and
install security patches frequently to protect their systems from attack.

There are no social norms on the Web. Other forms of human culture have laws, regulations and
rules to guide people’s behavior, but the virtual world has not yet developed its cultural norms to
encourage a healthy Web environment. Education in Internet usage cannot focus only on the
technical, but must also deal with the issues of decent, legal and appropriate Web behavior.
However, there will probably always be a tension between the profound freedom available by
accessing the Internet and society’s needs for laws and regulations.

There are also major technological issues for the future of the Web. IDC’s 2002 study
identified three trends for products in the mature market of word processing and the newer market
of Web authorship, including technology for creating text that is enhanced with audio and video
elements. First, the sales of the PC market will have an impact on Web authoring software.
Secondly, open source software plays a role in the Web authoring tool market. Thirdly, the effect
of XML on enterprise applications is still uncertain.