only just beginning to figure out stuff like that with Web sites. Some examples include the underlined words that make your cursor turn into a hand - those are hyperlinks. Or the strip of colour that runs down the left side of so many Web sites - that's part of our navigation vocabulary for now.
In a lot of ways, these basic elements of Web design are creeping into other digital information spaces. Web-page-based metaphors for navigating information really click with people who have had limited exposure to computers. Think of how information is displayed on ATMs or kiosks in airports, for example. The paradigm of linked, textual pages isn't as new as we think it is. Neither are the design philosophies we apply to them.
When Microsoft was testing its latest version of Internet Explorer, the Microsoft team found that, while advanced users were annoyed by the browser's integration in the desktop, new users loved things like the Back button, single-click launching of programs, and "favourite places" lists - regardless of whether they were surfing the Net or their own hard drive. The paradigm of linked information resources is rapidly replacing the desktop metaphor. Hyperlinks, navigation bars, and search engines are taking over where folders, files, and trash cans were once the norm.
Simplicity is absolutely essential on the Web. Successful Web design takes control of content and boils its presentation down to essential elements in a subtle visual context. And when you achieve this, you'll be saying much more than you ever could through long explanations of everything on your pages.
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