Train of Thoughts: Designing the Effective Web Experience

Is creativity the enemy of usability? How do you judge the success of a person's experience interacting with a web enterprise? Is the effectiveness of an online resource defined only by how "usable" it is? In Train of Thoughts, web strategy and design consultant John C. Lenker Jr. provides insight into how web enterprises must interact with people to be successful in the twenty-first century.

Train of Thoughts is non-technical and written not only for web designers and developers, but also for any stakeholder in a web enterprise that has a vested interest in ensuring that their online resources become more meaningful and valuable. In this book, you'll learn to understand what motivates people's online behavior and then convert that motivation into online results; communicate with people effectively online so that they really understand what the value proposition of an online resource is; combine forward-thinking information design techniques with systems that pave experiential pathways for people to journey along in pursuit of their interests and goals; properly employ personalization to build relationships; understand the true role of creativity online; uncover screen-space designs that aid and inspire the mind; reconcile business objectives with stakeholder needs; approach process in a way that keeps projects on time, on budget, and on target; create online resources that actually work when they're completed; and actualize creative vision appropriately for the web

Table of Contents

I. UNDERSTANDING WEB EXPERIENCE DESIGN.

1. Users' versus People—Understanding What Motivates Online Behavior.
2. Affecting Outcomes—Converting Motivation into Online Results.
3. Composing Notions—Making Online Information Meaningful.
4. Patterns of Anticipation—The Art of Flowstem Development.
5. Productive Originality—Understanding the Role of Creativity Online.
6. The Time/Screen-Space Continuum—Designing Perceptually Experiential Media.

II. USING SPEED TO SUCCEED WITH EXPERIENCE DESIGN.

7. Strategy Formulation—Reconciling Stakeholder Needs.
8. Iterative Executive—Exploring Cycles of Planning, Execution, and Evaluation.
9. Deployment—The Real Work of the Final Phase of a Project.
10. Artfulness in Creative Execution-Doing Due Diligence.
Index.