Creating Effective Web User Interface by

Christina Cheeney
President, Simmedia.com

User interface is next "killer app" for the web. In today’s evolving marketplace, technology and engineering no longer provide companies with a competitive edge. The real value in a company’s web presence is the ability to facilitate and engage the user, provide customer service, merchandise products/services and support transactions.
User interface involves strategy, research, visual design, functional design, database design and information architecture. It requires collaboration between designers, engineers, database architects and marketing professionals.

On the web all of your competitors are just one click away. Your competitive differentiation depends on your customer’s ability to interact with your site to collect information, answer questions and make purchases.

In this class we will examine the cross-disciplinary approach to user interface – how visual designers, information architects and database engineers must collaborate to build a user interface for websites and web applications. You will learn how to strategize, design and develop the most appropriate user interface for your website.

Real case studies of user interface development, from concept to launch, will be examined.

COVERS THE FOLLOWING, PLUS MORE:

• How the web transcends classic user interface rules
• How to research and document a user interface strategy
• How user interface drives functionality
• How to develop intuitive, streamlined messaging systems for web interfaces
• How to conduct usability testing and research
• Integration issues between the front-end user interface and the back-end technology
• How user interface effects the bottom line and increases revenues
• How to merchandise on the web
• Learn how to create a functional specification for website user interfaces
• Rules for data display and handling
• Top ten user interface mistakes
• Top ten user interface rules
  

OBJECTIVE:

• Provide a strong foundation for the understanding of how to strategize and develop a web-based user interface and how user interface effects a company and its customers.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

• Web Site Owners
• Web Site Designers
• Internet Consultants

FACILITATOR:

Christina Cheney is President of Simmedia.com. She began creating and managing web sites in 1993 when companies were just beginning to explore the web as a part of their business. She's managed and strategized web development, with a focus on online branding, for companies like Office Depot, Lucent, Humana, Chiron and Sony. She's worked with web-only companies to create new brands and with established companies to extend their brands onto the web. She's written articles and contributed to books, including "Secrets of Successful Websites" and "Building Online Brands."