Definition of website architecture
We define website architecture as 'the art and science of creating good websites'. This requires:
- Useful and well-organised content [utility, commodity, utilitas]. See content management.
- Good technical design [efficiency, firmness, firmitas]. See web information technology.
- Good visual design [beauty, delight, venustas]. See aesthetics and web design.
The Latin words and translations in square brackets are from the oldest surviving European work on design theory: Vitruvius Pollio's Ten books on architecture. Vitruvius deals with buildings but also with towns, harbours, clocks and other facilities. As a relatively new branch of design, it is right that website architecture should aspire to the Vitruvian principles. They were known to generations of designers as 'Commodity, Firmness and Delight'. Websites should also contribute to 'the business side of the art':
- The organisational objectives of their providers (information provision, e-Commerce, recruitment, entertainment etc). See business vision.
The aim is quality. One can learn from design approaches , from design analogies and from design theories. Websites also require content management and link planning for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Website quality
Because it is new as a design type, the general standard of website architecture is unspeakably bad:
- Technology: faulty links, bad coding, lack of browser compatibility, slow download times, inappropriate use of tables and frames, inaccessibility, neglect of CSS and WC3 guidelines.
- Content: badly written text, confusing navigation, lack of facilities (site map, contact information, search box etc).
- Design: ugly graphics, bad layout, poor choice of images, ghastly backgrounds, lack of colour harmony.
- eBusiness: the most famous aspect of Dotcoms is their propensity to become Dead Dotcoms, by bankrupting their owners.
Website architecture at the University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich MA Website Architecture takes an even-handed approach to the education of individuals who can create good small websites or manage the production of large websites. The programme is based in a design school and draws upon general design principles. We aim to take graduates from the full range of undergraduate disciplines and convert them into website architects and e-Professionals. Applicants might have backgrounds in science, technology, fine art, design or the humanities. We are particularly interested in the conversion of professionals to e-Professionals, including:
- Designers to e-Designers
- Writers to e-Writers
- Managers to e-Managers
- Teachers to e-Teachers
- Lawyers to e-Lawyers
- Architects to e-Architects
Critical Appraisal of website types and the practical design of good websites are key aspects of the University of Greenwich programme in website architecture. We are, for example, interested in Top Ten Lists of websites, in the March 2000 Dotcom Shakeout and in the Retail Dilemma, because design should serve professional, commercial and organisational objectives. We are also interested in web art, web poetry and web publishing. Electronic publishing offers teachers and textbook authors an opportunity for better financial returns than traditional publishing, combined with much more feedback from their readers and wider circulation of their work.
