Web design encompasses a variety of disciplines and skills in website creation and maintenance. The various disciplines of web design include graphic web design; user interface (UI) design; content writing, which includes both standardized code and user-supplied code; technical support, which generally covers design, for example, database development and application integration; and search engine optimization (SEO).
The use of multimedia (including video and animation), networking, and social media in web design is growing rapidly as users search for more interactive and engaging web pages. As social media becomes popular, designers are faced with issues like ethical web publishing and user choice, privacy and security, commercial and non-profit web applications. In addition to the discipline of web design, there are many spin-off disciplines that deal with aspects of web development.
There are many schools and universities that offer courses in web design and many professionals gravitate towards a degree within a specialized field such as interaction design, user experience design, or web development. A web design course will teach the designer how to create a visually appealing website using many of the basic techniques of web design. Interaction designers work with display systems and how they work with information systems, often representing the customer's view of how a site and its content should be used.
UX designers create user interfaces for websites that make using the site a pleasant user experience. This can include navigation schemes, forms, pages, links, pop-ups, search boxes, and forms. A UI designer must also be highly qualified in computer software, graphic design, and user research. A successful web designer will have a wide range of skills and in-depth knowledge of the latest advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and user research methodologies. Web design work done by UI designers will be in 3D and may consist of complex interior environments that incorporate lighting, reflections, and refractions.
The usability designers analyze the entire web design process and produce a set of recommendations to improve the usability of the site. Usability experts analyze the structure and behavior of a site, as well as the methods used to access information on a site. The usability professional will often speak to a client as part of her job and may suggest minor changes to the design to improve accessibility. If a site contains checkboxes or other types of input controls that are too complicated to be used effectively by people with impaired cognitive abilities, usability professionals may suggest that these features be removed or minimized.
Web developers use a website builder to create interactive sites, allowing business owners to run their companies from anywhere in the world. Web developers often work closely with web designers, although they are not required to do all the work themselves. Web developers use a website builder to guide them through the site creation process and determine what features a particular company may need to develop its website.
While the three areas of web design and development have their own specific components, they all come together to provide the most seamless and effective user experience possible. While people using a website may not share the same level of expertise in any of the three areas, all three are vital to the success of a website and its users. By paying attention to usability, interaction design, and overall usability, web designers and developers can ensure that their websites are created in a way that meets the needs of their target audience and provides their users with the best experience.
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