Raising the Roof on Web Design
A Look Below the Surface Reveals Another Realm
By Susan Kuchinskas
The juice in Web design is moving from the front end to the back.
Okay, we have graphics down--compression, animation, audio, and so on,
are givens. So, as Web sites become much more than digital brochures, clients
and visitors expect them to be more than a pretty facade. When you raise
the roof on a commercial site and take a look at its inner workings, you'll
often find a complex system for gathering, sorting, and delivering data
of all kinds. The really interesting stuff is happening behind the scenes,
and no way is it coded in HTML.
In the early days, the stereotype of the Web designer was a graphics
specialist who could translate print-design skills to HTML to create an
exciting page and get the links to work right. Demand outweighed the supply
of designers, and the barriers for entry into the field were low. But that
honeymoon, says Michael Carroll, "is kind of over." Carroll is
CEO of
CyberStrategies, an Upland, California Internet presence provider
with an emphasis on developing e-commerce solutions and dynamic content
delivery.
"I don't want to downplay the importance of having the creative
aspect," Carroll says, "but people who want to get stuff done
on the Web don't want to be confused or to waste their time clicking
through a jungle of hyperlinks. They want to do what they want to do and
get out.
