- Intranet-A Web-based network interface designed in HTML or other technologies for private, internal company use. Many intranets are designed to provide information, project scheduling, and company news to employees via an HTML compatible browser.
The HTML Writers Guild (HWG) atwww.hwg.org is a professional association open to all who are interested in Web development. Membership is $40 per year with benefits ranging from job boards to discounts on online classes taught by master developers. The HWG is the only association of Web developers that is a member of the W3C, and therefore has a voice in setting the standards of the WWW.
If you are a creative person who loves to learn new things everyday, the field of Web development may be a perfect match for you. With new technologies emerging everyday, even the most seasoned Web developers are compelled to experiment with the latest developments and products. This can be a double-edged sword, however. If you fall behind on your studies and training, you will soon find your skill set a bit antiquated.
Books
Books that focus purely on site design are not as plentiful as they are for Web development. However, the books listed below are actually interesting to read because they focus mostly on the psychology of site design and not just the technology behind it.
Beginners Book Titles
- Nielson, Jakob. Designing Web Usability:The Practice of Simplicity. New Riders, 1999. ISBN 156205810X.
- Fleming,Jennifer, and Richard Koman. Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience. O'Reilly & Associates, 1998. ISBN 1565923510.
Advanced Books
- Burdman,Jessica R. Collaborative Web Development: Strategies and Best Practices for Web Teams. Addison-Wesley, 1999. ISBN 0201433311.
- Powell,Thomas, David Jones, and Dominique Cutts. Web Site Engineering: Beyond Web Page Design. Prentice-Hall Computer Books, 1998. ISBN 0136509207.
- Sano, Darrell. Designing Large-Scale Web Sites: A Visual Design Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, 1996. ISBN 047114276X.
Reference Books
Haggard, Mary. Survival Guide to Web Site Development. Microsoft Press, 1998. ISBN 1572318511.
Sweeny, Susan. 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site. Maximum PR, 2000. ISBN 188506845X.
Online Information and Resources
As with other areas of technology, the Internet serves as a great resource for a wide array of information on Web design. Listed in the following sections are some resources to get you started.
Newsgroups
The newsgroups listed in this section are discussion forums that are populated by site designers currently working in the field. A quick look into some of the postings reveals the issues and challenges that site designers face.
- microsoft.public.publisher.webdesign
- microsoft.public.webdesign.html
- comp.infosystems.www.authoring.site-design
Web Pages
- Page Tutor (www.pagetutor.com)-This site offers some valuable lessons in Web site design and development.
- GraJX Design (www.grafx-design.com/tutorials.html)-This site has been created by a Web development firm. It offers some interesting tutorials on graphics design for the Internet as well as a handsome portfolio to get ideas from.
- Web Design (www.4webdesign.com)-This site is truly geared toward the site designer. It offers a number of articles and tutorials on the fundamentals of effective Web site design.
The Association of Internet Professionals (www.association.org) is geared toward Internet professionals in all career paths. Membership is $90 U.S. and benefits include industry discounts, site hosting discounts, financial services, insurance, and representation for Internet issues at the government level.
Additional Information
In order to stay in demand in today's job market, Internet professionals must keep their skills current by learning about the various new technologies that develop on what seems to be a daily basis. The challenge lies in the fact that many of these technologies do not become commonly used on the Internet. Therefore, Internet professionals have to rely on resources, such as industry newsletters and newsgroups, to get a feel for what technologies are taking off and will ultimately become industry standards.
The future growth in this area of IT is expected to be so high that it is difficult to even estimate its rate of growth. With the boom of the Internet economy, you can expect that in the next ten years most companies, both retail and service oriented, will rely heavily on the Internet to market their products and services. Given this fact, it will take thousands of talented developers, designers, and Webmasters to accomplish this amount of growth.
The following sections include some additional resources that you may find useful in determining what it takes to be a Web developer. The "Jargon Buster" helps you translate some of the more frequently used terms, or jargon, specific to this field. There are also a number of additional online resources listed, which include newsgroups, discussion lists, and Web sites that you can visit to make your search for information easier.
Summary
As you have seen, the role of the site designer falls into a managerial role. The interesting twist on this career path is that not only do you need to be a very capable Web developer, but you also need a keen ability to design a Web site that represents the business model outlined by your client or management team. Having the level of perception and creativity that allows for such proficiency is obviously a great skill set to have for this job role.
