Fast-tracking web development with an HTMLHelp wireframe
There is a new buzzword on
the block when it comes to web development, or as is more likely these
days, web re-development, and that's WIREFRAME. The term comes from 3D modelling and refers to the cage-like drawing
that describes an object without including its details, colours or
decoration.
The current thinking is that
the most important things to get right at the outset with a new web (be it
internet or intranet) are its structure and initial content. The structure
is the web's core content hierarchy, or in other
words, the relationships between the web's pages in terms of
information categories and sub-categories, sometimes referred to as its
information architecture. This is the Web’s skeleton - the wires in the
wireframe.
The object is to hold-off
doing expensive graphic design and HTML development work until the overall
structure has been agreed. It is also important to get a detailed picture
of the nature and volume of the content that will eventually populate the
site because this has a bearing on the way the information will be
presented and the page template layouts to be developed.
If you are developing in a
windows environment, an ideal format for presenting the wireframe is in
the form of a compressed HTMLHelp (or *.chm) file. The reasons are:
·
it is easy and quick to produce and update
·
it has an expandable /collapsible table of contents
(TOC) that acts as an automatically-updating site map that gives a clear
overall picture of the information architecture at all times
·
reviewers can easily navigate the content using the
TOC
·
content can be reviewed in the context of the
information architecture
·
the compressed help file format is small and so can be
easily emailed to all reviewers
Here is a sample of what
such a wireframe may look like.
This approach supports
development effort by creating an artefact that can be passed around,
discussed, annotated, and shaped in a cooperative way at very little cost.
This article may be reproduced only with the permission of HCi (email HCi ). Copyright HCi, 2001-2.
