Interface design is the creative part of the
web design. Interface makes the website appear ugly or sophisticated. Interface refers to the look of the page and the way they work and interact with the viewer. Working nature of the page is one of the aspects of the interface, like underlined words in a page acting as the hypertext links or the cursor will change into a hand when it is placed over a button.
Preference of the viewer depends on the interface design which differs from browser to browser. Majority of people likes simplicity in a page displayed by the browser. Keeping these limitations in mind, adjustments are to be made. If a rearrangement in a page is required due to browsers limitation, it should take priority in your decision.
Navigation designing is another aspect of
website design. Navigation and interface are inter-related to each other and both of them are the key elements for a website designer. A good website plan is the sign of good
web design.
An important aspect of an interface design is page orientation. The most desired orientation of the page is horizontal and setting should be 640x460. Home Page should be designed as a complete unit within the screen space and all other pages need to have a neat and compact appearance within the screen even if they have more information to scroll to.
If the user can find their way around the entire site and come back to Home page easily, it is a well-designed navigation. Navigation should always be well organized. There are different navigation style and techniques. Some of them are simple text and others are graphic icon. Graphics can add beauty to a navigating item. Navigations need to be simple and enjoyable.
There are many styles of navigation like buttons, bars (a group of icons in a bar), plain text, links and animated graphics. All primary navigations to the main section of the website should be kept together. They are seen at the top of the page in most web pages. If the page is a scrolling page, the navigation needs to be kept at both places, top and the bottom of the page.
Another useful technique of navigation is using frames. Frames divide the browser window into two or more separate areas which can act independently but are interactive to each other. This is specially useful where a navigation area needs to be visible all the time and the navigating items like buttons, text etc are kept in a separate frame so that the new information loads in a separate frame without disturbing the main navigation.
So a good interface and a good navigation are signs of good
website design.
