E-Tech

• Platform

  A group of technologies that is used as a base upon which other applications or processes are developed
• Platform

  • Follows a set of standards that enables software developers to develop software applications for the platform
  • Allows owners and managers to purchase appropriate applications and hardware
• Marc Andreessen: 'A platform is "a system that can be programmed and therefore customized by outside developers-users-and in that way, adapted to countless needs and niches that the platform's original developers could not have possibly contemplated, much less had time to accommodate."'
• Levels of a platform

  • Level 1-Access API
  • Level 2 - Plug-in API
  • Level 3 Runtime Environment
• Access API

  The apps on this level run elsewhere and call into the platform via web services API to draw on data and services
• Plug-in API

  Allows developers to build new functions that can be injected or plugged into the core system and its user interface
• Runtime Environment

  The third-party application code actually runs inside the platform-developer code is uploaded and runs online, inside the core system
• The first website on the World Wide Web was created by Tim Berners-Lee who was then a computer scientist at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva
• The first website went live in August 1901
• API

  Application programming interfaces
• API is the most common type of internet platform
• On Level 1 platforms, the processes of building and running the application itself is solely done by a developer who possesses both technical expertise and financial resources
• Level 2 platform approach has historically been used in end-user applications to let developers build new functions that can be injected or plugged into the core system and its user interface
• The best online example of a Level 2 platform is Facebook
• In a Level 3 platform, the third-party application code actually runs inside the platform-developer code is uploaded and runs online, inside the core system
• Level 3 platforms are referred to as "online platforms" in casual conversation
• Examples of Level 3 platforms include Andreessen's own Ning and Salesforce
• Web design principles

  • Visual Hierarchy
  • Proportion
  • Hick's Law
  • Fitts Law
  • Accessibility
  • Visible Language
  • White Space and Simple Design
• Visual Hierarchy

  The order in which human eye perceives what it sees
• Proportion

  Using the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence to make a design aesthetically pleasing
• Hick's Law

  The time required to make a decision increases with every additional choice
• Fitts Law

  The time needed to move to a target is dependent upon the size of the target as well as the distance to the target
• Accessibility

  Visitors must be able to access each bit of information in the easiest manner
• Visible Language

  A web page design should communicate with the users clearly and in an engaging manner
• White Space and Simple Design

  White space helps divide the web page into several distinct parts or areas that make it simpler for the users to process information
• Conducting usability testing every now and then is important to determine whether a website has issues or not
• Websites constantly need upgrades and updates to maintain the visitor/customer's interests and trends
• Websites

  • Constantly maintain the visitor customer's interests and trends
• Websites constantly need upgrades and updates to design
• Web design elements

  • Links
  • Forms
  • Form validation
  • Status messages
  • Animations
• Links - Normal state

  Default state of a link (not being hovered over or clicked or pointing to a URL the user has already visited)
• Links - Visited state

  Link that is not being hovered over or clicked but whose target has been visited by the user
• Links - Active state

  Link that is currently being clicked by the user
• Links - Hover state

  How the link looks when the user moves the mouse over it
• Forms

  • Form labels are important to properly inform users of the purpose of the form
  • Input fields and labels need to be well laid out on the page
• Form validation

  • Required fields should be indicated, usually with an asterisk
  • Real-time validation informs the user of problems as they complete the form
  • Post-back validation happens after the user submits the form
• Status messages

  • Users need feedback after performing actions on the website, such as after submitting a form
• Animations

  • Tooltips, image rotators/sliders, lightbox transitions
• Animations and transitions are easy to overlook in standard HTML and CSS
• Website templates typically include images, navigation, and in some cases flash animations