Principles of Design

The four essential elements for creating captivating websites

The four principles of design are balance, rhythm, emphasis and unity. Each one of them is essential for bringing together the different visual elements that are necessary to achieving a strong design, which, in turn, is imperative for a website to succeed on any level. What follows is an examination of each principle, with insights about how to incorporate them into your own Web design for optimal results.

Balance — Different colors, shapes and sizes can create different degrees of what is called “visual interest” on a Web page. It is important that pages are designed to hold a user’s interest without overwhelming them or causing distraction away from the elements most important to conversion goals. As such, distribution of this interest needs to be controlled and balanced by considering each element in a layout and its “visual weight” — determined by its size, shade and thickness of lines.

Symmetrical balance is achieved by placing elements in the design evenly. If you place a large, heavy element on the right side, you will have a matching heavy element on the left. Centering is the easiest way to get a symmetrically balanced page. But be careful, as it can be difficult to create a centered design that doesn’t look flat. For symmetrically balanced design, it is better to create the balance with different elements — an image on the left and a large block of text to the right of it, for example.

Asymmetrical balance is an arrangement of unlike objects of equal weight on each side of the page. Color, value, size, shape and texture can be used as balancing elements. However, asymmetrically balanced pages can be more challenging to design, as elements are not matched across the centerline of the design.

For example, you might have a large element placed very close to the centerline of the design. To balance it asymmetrically, you could place a small element farther away from the centerline. If you think of your design as being on a teeter-totter or seesaw, a lighter element can balance a heavier one by being further away from the center of gravity. You can also use color or texture to balance an asymmetrical design.

Sometimes the purpose of the website itself makes an off-balance design the right choice. Designs that are off-balance suggest motion and action. They make people uncomfortable or uneasy. If the content of your design is also intended to be uncomfortable or make people think, a discordantly balanced design can work well.

Rhythm — Rhythm in design is also known as repetition — a pattern created by repeating elements that are varied, allowing your designs to develop an internal consistency that makes it easier for your customers to understand. Once the brain recognizes the pattern in the rhythm it can relax and understand the whole design.

Repetition (repeating similar elements in a consistent manner) and variation (a change in the form, size or position of the elements) are the keys to visual rhythm. Placing elements in a layout at regular intervals creates a smooth, even rhythm and calm, relaxing mood. Sudden changes in the size and spacing of elements creates a fast, lively rhythm and an exciting mood.

Gestalt is a general description for concepts that make unity and variety possible in design. The mind has the ability to see unified “wholes” from the sum of complex visual parts. Some principles of gestalt are proximity, similarity, continuance, closure, uniform connectedness and 1+1=3 effects.

Emphasis — Emphasis (or dominance) in design provides the focal point for the piece, enabling the most important design element to stand out. To draw the reader to the important part of the piece, every layout needs a focal point.

Generally, a focal point is created when one element is different from the rest. However, to maximize emphasis, it is necessary to avoid too many focal points, so as not to dilute the dominant effect. When all elements are given equal emphasis, it can make the piece appear busy, at best, or even boring and unappealing.

Emphasis can be achieved in the following ways:

• Using semantic markup to provide some emphasis, even without styles.
• Changing the size of fonts or images to emphasize or de-emphasize them in the design.
• Using bold, black type for headings and subheads and much lighter text for all other content. Placing a large picture next to a small bit of text.
• Using contrasting colors. For example, using a series of evenly spaced, square photographs next to an outlined photograph with an unusual shape.
• Placing an important piece of text on a curve or an angle while keeping all of the other type in straight columns.
• Using colored type or an unusual font for the most important information.

Unity — Unity (or proximity) helps all the elements look like they belong together. Readers need visual cues to let them know an article is one unit — the text, headline, photographs, graphic images and captions all go together. Elements that are positioned close to one another are related while elements that are farther apart are less so.

Unity can be accomplished through the following methods:

• Being consistent with the type font, sizes and styles for headings, subheads, captions, headers and footers throughout the website.
• Positioning elements so that those close to one another are related, while elements that are farther apart have less of a relationship.
• Using only one or two type styles and various size or weight for contrast throughout the site.
• Repeating a color, shape or texture in different areas throughout.
• Choosing visuals that share a similar color, theme or shape.

Web users rely heavily on visual clues when making decisions about a website — whether to click and explore, consider a purchase or sign up for a service. This is even more pronounced for first-time visitors when the decision to stay on-site or abandon is made in just a few seconds. Follow these four design principles and you can be sure that your users and new visitors will stay engaged with your website.

About the Author: Guillermo Cedillo is responsible for the design and implementation of modifications of different Web, desktop and mobile applications as a User Interface Designer for Sieena. Sieena is a Nearshore software development firm specializing in Microsoft technologies, with operations in Los Angeles and Monterrey, Mexico.

Should you consider transferring your IT project work to Mexico?

By Brenda V.

The answer to this question is yes! Mexico is the lowest cost destination closest to the US Market, moving your IT project work will allow your business to grow with limited resources, while having access at the same time to the best technological resources available.

Increase your business competitiveness and gain leadership in your industry.

Mexico’s geographical location will give you an ideal place to start your outsourcing project work, a place to supply the US market with Agile and “just in time” methodologies with access to world class infrastructure, labor force and technologies.

If you are thinking about outsourcing your software development work, why not consider Mexico first? Our top-notch IT industry cluster can give you the following benefits:

· Reduce project cycle time

· Enhance work flexibility

· Reduce your total project costs

· Be able to travel to meet your team in person with just a 3 hour flight

· Have all the experience labor force available for your projects

· Operate with professionals with a very close US business culture

· Maintain or acquired a leadership position by implementing technological applications to keep you above your competitors

· Take advantage of all the legal paperwork given by the NAFTA agreement

Take advantage of the closer education system in which Mexican developers have to undergo a 5-year degree to engineers and programmers, making the quality of our resources one of the best to accommodate your expertise needs.

Before choosing any outsourcing service it would be important for you to consider that buying mainly based on expenses can bring trouble for your business: There are many more important elements to consider like the experience of the company, client base, testimonials, the software development process and the open communication channels that help you in all the creation and implementation process.

Following a formal evaluation process can give you a better understanding of the advantages that outsourcing your project work can bring to your business.

In Sieena, we specialize in custom software development work with all the benefits given by the nearshore strategy. With offices in Los Angeles, CA and Monterrey, Mexico we are ready to give you the best resources and act as a consulting firm to let you know how to improve your current IT processes; we have 6 years of experience working for the US market and have many customer testimonials and commendations. Please let us know what we can do for your company.

Cultural Proximity between the US and Mexico

By Beatriz E.

There are a small number of countries who have the same relationship as Mexico and the United States. Due to their shared border, trade and demography, these two countries enjoy a convenient relationship for outsourcing. Also they have some sort of degree of cultural proximity which isn’t enjoyed with other countries like Asian ones.

Cultural proximity is defined as the relationship between two markets that have a high level of cultural similarity.

None the less, differences can’t be ignored. It would be wrong for me to say that Mexican and American culture are like two drops of water. I’m sure that you know that’s not the case. Even though the exchange of ideas, influences and goods is at its best state; they have a strong sense of identity that separates one from another. This is founded on the perceptions they have of each other across the border.

However, there are some misconceptions against Mexico and some real differences between these two countries, which I will like to further explain.

For some, Mexico is the place of sombreros and siestas, it is hard to believe that in this age that’s the first thought that pops to mind when they think of Mexico. Although many people know that this is not true, they still have that preconceived judgment and are hesitant to do business with Mexico, since they think they’ll be lazy. Today Mexico has proven this wrong with its growth despite the economical crisis. Besides, it has a very low attrition; this means that there isn’t a gradual reduction in work force of personnel resigning or retiring, which is very convenient to do business with.

As far as the differences, in Mexico almost the entire country has the same religion which is Catholic. Therefore, a minimum awareness of other religions exists; making of Mexico a sensitive country. That’s why Mexican firms are focused on making sure that the employees are aware of the diversity in the U.S.

One outstanding city, that has proven these misconceptions wrong and has overcome differences regarding culture is Monterrey.

Monterrey is one of the largest bases of international commercial exchange in Mexico. Exchanges of this magnitude make work culture and ethics to be very similar. Business done in Monterrey have an American style; also locals keep the government as far away from their business every time they can.

This city is a major industrial center in the northern part of Mexico, it was rated by Fortune magazine in 1999 as the best city in Latin America for business and currently it ranked third best by the América Economía Magazine.

Monterrey is known as "The Sultan of the North", some think that the reason why it is called like that is due to the fact that this city is probably the most business friendly city in México. Its enormous industrial and commercial center has grown because of its amiable and open business climate.

This city is also recognized for its highly educated work force, complimented by many colleges and technical learning centers, causing an ongoing trainable work force. One of the best higher learning universities in all of Latin America is Tec de Monterrey. Also the unemployed percentage of the population is constantly the lowest in Mexico. Its overall economy and surrounding areas reflect its success.

Not only are the largest cities of Mexico proving the benefits of doing business with the U.S. but also startups to Fortune 500 companies are discovering the benefits of using Mexican companies for their IT needs.

Forrester Research recommends ... “Companies interested in the cost and quality benefits of offshore labor, but which require a closer, less risky solution should strongly consider Mexico as an important nearshore option. Projects with intensive collaboration requirements, internal domain expertise requirements or a medium to high degree of end-user participation are often more suited to nearshore outsourcing models, since travel between vendor and client is easy and time zones permit real-time collaboration.”

— Forrester “Mexican Nearshore Outsourcing: A Promising Global Sourcing Alternative”(March 2003)

Many Mexican firms when asking their US clients regarding what they like most about working with them, they all have answered the same: the fundamental similar culture. This is because Mexican professionals are exposed to business practices, culture and administrative concepts typical of the US because many of them work for global or US companies. Society in Mexico closely follows the cultural, sports and entertainment events in the US, this helps to foster excellent integration of the day-to-day work teams.

As a conclusion it can be said that currently Mexico and the US enjoy a unique and convenient relationship that many countries wish to have. Differences need to be acknowledged and overcome with tolerance and disposition, the rest is particularly easy.

How can I keep up with technology with limited resources?

By Brenda V.

When asking some of our most important clients about the current challenges they face, a big percentage of them always mention the importance of keeping up with technology using limited resources. Most small to medium size companies struggle when trying to implement new applications or software to improve internal processes and help their employees to be more efficient. But we can also find companies whose main service is based on technological products they offer to their clients and are always searching for innovative ways to keep themselves in the market.

Keeping up with changing technologies as decision maker can be an overwhelming task, you may ask which IT solutions are good for me? Which ones can make my company more efficient? How can I maximize the resources I have?

There are a variety of information sources to obtain this information, such as: associations, referrals, vendors, tradeshows, etc, but the problem right now it’s not about finding the information but knowing who you should listen.

One of the most common sources for obtaining information is the data you can find over the internet, information such as success stories, press releases, whitepapers, etc; but the ultimate valuable information source is usually a trusted referral by someone you have worked with or a business partner.

It is important, no matter in what type of industry your business is to stay informed about the new technology trends that can be applied to your processes.

Some of the main benefits that technology can bring to your company are:

1) Increase business efficiency

2) Reduce operative costs

3) Improve your overall revenue

4) Improve your client service

5) Grow your company.

For the current business environment and the new IT trends, it is essential to have a strategy that will help you and your business define the necessary steps to choose and implement new technological solutions.

First it’s important to determine the current needs of your business and make a list of all of them, then choose which of those necessities has priority for you; the next step would be to make a list of all resources available to you and make an estimate of all the lacking resources to complete those tasks; the next step would be to make a list of all resources you can buy or hire to complete the activities and ranking them in order of importance (this can be done by defining which elements are most important to you like price, proximity, prompt delivery, etc.) and finally make the final decision about external or internal resources to use.

It is also important to consider what your competitors are doing to innovate and acquire market leadership, don’t forget to make a market research and include in your business strategy the next steps required to grow your business.

Here at Sieena not only do we offer custom software development services, but we can help you and your business choosing from a variety of services and products that will help your business grow.

Why is LinkedIn important for your small/medium business?

By Brenda V.

Even after … years of being created, I still bump with people who don’t even know what LinkedIn is; for all those who seek to answer the question about this I can tell you that LinkedIn is a social network dedicated mainly to help connect people on their professional side; something like connecting with the people you work with but also with former colleagues or service providers.

It’s not only that, LinkedIn has evolved into a much more elaborate and complicated tool where you can join groups of people with the same professional interest than you, ask questions related to your work activities or even put adds completely focused to the targeted markets.

Now, why would LinkedIn be important to you if you have a small to medium business? Local listings aren’t enough anymore, there is a big world out there that might be looking for your services and the only way to get to you is through the use of networking, this is where LinkedIn comes in handy.

Have you ever tried searching for a specific service on Google? I bet you have! Well I dare you to do the same on LinkedIn and you will be surprised about the results… not only will you be able to find the service providers closest to you, but you connect directly to the right people inside those companies.

There are many advantages about having your own LinkedIn Profile and having your small business on it as well:

· You will be able to gain access to your competitor’s staff skill and experience.

· Do a benchmark about what are the companies in your industry doing, what events they are attending, etc.

· Recruit and post job adds in the job section and even inside the groups you join.

· Get in touch with important people inside your industry and network with them.

· Stay in touch with colleagues and see what projects they are working on and how you can help each other advance.

· Get business recommendations by other professionals and previous colleagues or supervisors.

· Ask questions and obtain information form industry professionals who might be experts in the subject of inquiry.

· Join groups in which you can announce your products and services.

· Create online polls and send it to the targeted people that can help you in obtaining relevant information.

· Customize your profile; add all your business background, picture, even reading list or online presentations. As of lately you can even add updates from your own twitter account on your profile.

There are many things you can do with LinkedIn, the important thing about this is to never consider it as a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace; LinkedIn is a professional networking tool that will help you and your company to have an online presence and get known outside of your area of influence.

What is a Community?

By Brenda V.

We all know the meaning of the term community; however it is in these past few years that the word has taken a larger significance because of the boom caused by the social media revolution.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a community is “a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society”. In the end it all refers to an entity made by a group of people that somehow communicate and collaborate toward achieving a common goal or are bounded together by similar interests.

We can find communities in places like churches, schools, work, neighborhoods, etc., the main point here is that we as human beings like to be with other people and feel part of a group.

With the explosion of the internet we find that getting together with similar people is easier than ever, joining groups or discussion boards is just three clicks away. It is easy to find ourselves chatting with people from all over the world and obtaining valuable information.

Every community has to offer certain elements to make it run smoothly such as: providing enough tools to make it easier for members to form a bond and a strong connection to each other or to offer and facilitate the information sharing; but what is most important is to always give its members a sense of fun and discovery.

Sometimes these communities help people to gather as much information as possible before buying a product or hiring a service, just like the case of IWantAnOffer.com, the very first online community solely dedicated to the real estate industry in the United States.

IWantanOffer.com’s real estate community has achieved this and much more by creating a website where all the people interested in buying or selling any real estate can join and talk with other people interested, share information and create bonds between buyers, sellers and agents. It’s not just a place to put an ad of your house, but a place where you can interact with those people interested in your property and obtain feedback of your selling process. It’s a place where you can ask other people about the best places to live or even ask questions about remodeling your house, finding appraisers, etc. It’s a web site where anyone can obtain important advice before deciding upon purchasing a property.

Here at Sieena, we helped IWantanOffer.com develop this incredible web site, an online community for the real estate industry in the US.

We invite you to visit their website and give it a tour, who knows? You might end up buying something you like!

IT outsourcing, it’s not all about rates!

By Brenda V.

Outsourcing is referred as the act of a company to contract a third party vendor to provide that specific service, due to the fact that accomplishing those activities in-house would represent (most of the time) higher costs and the need of additional staff.

The act of outsourcing has been around for many years now, small to large companies are born from the act of specializing in a certain activity to offer that experience and specialization to other companies whose core activity is completely different.

When speaking about IT outsourcing, the interest for this type of service providers is normally focused on eastern countries like India or Pakistan, but sometimes outsourcing difficult project work can bring a lot more trouble than benefits for the client; and I’m not only speaking of the different language (which brings a very strong accent), I am speaking about the different culture which will always bring a different way of looking at things, a simple email can be interpreted in different ways by two or more people.

We, as humans, have the tendency of reading or listening to what other people say accordingly to our own experience and assumptions, making it very difficult to communicate clearly with someone else; we can find these communication problems everywhere, in our home, at work, etc., but just imagine having to deal with this in a project work with people from a totally different country and that they live and work in a different time zone. Not only do I need to wake up extremely early or stay up late for phone meetings, but I need to make sure that whatever it is I am saying goes through clearly to the other person on the line, someone I might never even get to meet him or her in person.

Are you willing to put your money in the hands of someone you have never met? Well maybe they have lower rates, but sometimes it’s just not about the money.

When seeking an IT outsourcing firm it would be always wise to find an IT partner that has been working with similar companies and that can have references and testimonials of their work. Someone who might not have the exact same work culture than me but that has the base of knowledge needed of how I do things, how I work and how I like things done; someone that is reliable and above everything, someone that has the experience and resources to help me out with my project.

Do your research, listen to your business partner’s referrals and maybe even consider outsourcing companies closer to you than on the other side of the world… Maybe you will find that you can obtain much more benefits by considering a nearshore software development partner.