E-mail, the net, weblogs, instant messaging, text messaging, spiders, bots, MUDs, flashmob, VOIP. The World Wide Web has transformed our lives with its deluge of instantaneous information. The rapidity of adoption of the Internet by consumers is phenomenal. Within less than a decade, Internet usage has gone from a small, highly specialized segment of scientists and computer enthusiasts to a consumer mass market. Recent surveys suggest that about 60% US population browse the Web on a regular basis (Brown and Sellen, 1). Its impact on legal and cultural norms is pervasive: Congress is currently debating the “Regulatory Status of Broadband,” and the Recording Industry Association of America has recently sued ordinary users of illegally shared copyrighted music. The rest of the world, especially the non-English-speaking world, is rapidly catching up with the Internet usage of the US business and consumer markets.
The Internet has not only transformed our access to information and entertainment, it has also revolutionized our way of doing business. All business transactions first require a flow of communication, and so there is an essential interaction between the informational and commercial transactions. Therefore, because Web design and e-commerce are so closely related, we cover both topics in this chapter, reviewing research in Web design and e-commerce and highlighting issues and problems.