Design of user interfaces for the Web

Abstract

Examines several facets of user interface design for the World Wide Web. First, this paper considers the use of the Web as a platform for prototyping or deploying user interfaces. Second, it looks at guidelines and issues for the design of Web sites and the nature of the Web medium. Third, it examines the ways in which interfaces can help users to manage the complexity of the Web, including history mechanisms and diagrammatic overviews. Leading directly from the last of these is a discussion of the multiple geometries of the Web given by links, content and people's browsing. Finally, the paper looks at the future of the Internet as an integrative phenomenon. This includes a description of aQtive onCue, an application that integrates Internet services, desktop applications and the user's current work. The long-term future is PopuNET, a network for everyone, everywhere and everywhen, requiring a yet more radical approach.