Plan a simple web page or small site, identifying purpose and audience, sketching a layout and structure, and planning clear navigation

What this dot point is asking

This outcome is about planning a web page before you build it. You should be able to decide the purpose (what the page is for) and the audience (who will use it), sketch a layout and structure, and plan clear, consistent navigation so visitors can move around easily. Good planning makes the build faster and the result better. In the written paper you explain purpose, audience and navigation and justify design choices.

The answer

Purpose and audience

Two questions come first:

• Purpose. What is the page for? For example, to inform members about club events, to advertise a sale, or to let people sign up. The purpose guides every choice, so the content supports the job and nothing is added at random.
• Audience. Who will use it? For example, students, parents or the public. The audience shapes the language, the style and the look. A page for younger students can be lively with simple words and large buttons; a page for parents should be clearer and more formal.

When you know the purpose and audience, the rest of the design follows naturally.

Sketching the layout

A layout is the arrangement of the parts on the page. It helps to sketch it on paper first, deciding where each part goes:

• A header at the top with the site name or logo.
• A navigation menu of links to the main pages.
• The main content in the middle.
• A footer at the bottom with contact details or credits.

A sketch lets you try arrangements quickly before building anything.

Structure of a small site

If there is more than one page, plan the structure: which pages exist (such as Home, About, Events, Contact) and how they link together. A common structure has a Home page that links to each other page, and every page links back to Home.

Clear and consistent navigation

Navigation is how visitors move around. It should be:

• Clear. Visitors can find what they want quickly and not get lost.
• Consistent. The menu is the same, in the same place, on every page, so users always know how to move.
• Helpful. A navigation menu, sensible link names, and a home link on every page all help.

Examples in context

Example 1. A bake sale page. A student plans a page whose purpose is to advertise a bake sale to the whole school. Because the audience is broad, the design is bright and simple, with the date and place in the header and a clear layout, all decided in a sketch before any building.

Example 2. A small club site. A club plans four pages, Home, Events, Join and Contact, with the same menu on each and a home link everywhere. Planning the structure first means the navigation is consistent and visitors can reach any section in one click.

Try this

• Cue. Explain why you should decide the audience of a page before designing it. (The audience shapes the language, style and look, so a page for young students differs from one for parents; knowing the audience guides the design.)

• Cue. List the four common parts of a web page layout. (A header at the top, a navigation menu, the main content, and a footer at the bottom.)

• Cue. State two qualities good navigation should have. (Clear, so visitors find things quickly and do not get lost, and consistent, the same menu in the same place on every page.)