Minimize HTTP Requests

80% of the end-user response time is spent on the front-end. Most of this time is tied up in downloading all the components in the page: images, stylesheets, scripts, Flash, etc. Reducing the number of components in turn reduces the number of HTTP requests required to render the page. This is the key to faster pages.

One way to reduce the number of components in the page is to simplify the page’s design. But is there a way to build pages with richer content while also achieving fast response times? Here are some techniques for reducing the number of HTTP requests, while still supporting rich page designs. Continue reading →

Understanding the needs of users is one of the most critical success factors for any intranet or website project. Understanding these needs in a rapid fashion has arisen as project timelines have shortened and the pressure has mounted to deliver value early and often.

Personas allow you to identify and communicate user needs efficiently and effectively. By developing ’stand in’ users, based on real user data, the design team can concentrate on designing for these archetypal users with the confidence that the needs of the broader user base will be meet.

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JavaScript is also pretty speedy. Like most scripting languages, it’s interpreted (as opposed to being compiled). When you program using a compiled language, such as C++, you must always reformat, or compile, your code file before you can run it. This interim step can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or more.

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Our use of affordance draws on Salomon (Salomon, 1993) who takes the definition back to Gibson and Norman (Gibson, 1977; Norman, 1988). Perhaps a key difference between the use of the term affordance in design is the emphasis on intended use, whereas our approach reflects Salomon’s focus on ‘possible’ use. Like Gibson the approach taken in our paper is focused on the relationship between the infrastructure of information and communication technologies and people’s use of those technologies. We are interested in asking questions about what uses ICT invites and facilitates, what it lends itself to and what it can do well. A potential difficulty with using a term so popular in the field of design is that ‘use’ tends to be focused on how something ‘should’ be used, what it is designed for. Discussion about affordance can be limited to the intended, prescribed or designed function of technology. We are also interested in exploring the creative and innovative way people respond to technologies and perhaps adapt them for use in unforeseen circumstances. An affordance of the technology does not simply refer to the intended use but also to the unintended consequences.

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