Webifying Large Documents, Part 4
The latest episode on how to get large docs or processes onto the web without going insane.:
Step 3: Consider the Best Environment
One critical area that is often not considered is the environment in which the material is presented. It’s critical because the environment provides context for users, which will let them know if they have entered a special area, or if this is “just” another part of your site. Therefore you need to consider the page design in which this process will take place. Presuming that the material is to live in an existing website, does it occur in a “normal” secondary page, or is there a reason for these pages to have a special look that is unique from the rest of the site?
For material that is more “brochure-ware,” it’s better to have it appear in pages that look like the rest of your site.
For material that is special in some way—a unique whitepaper or survey or other content—then it’s best to have them in pages that are distinct from the rest of your site. These pages should have a unique “flavor” to them, while still maintaining consistency with the branding of your site. In other words, don’t have these pages be so different that users think they have gone to a totally different site!
For the sake of clarity and making this document easily digestible in a blog format, I have split it into several parts. However, you can download the entire doc here:
