Wiley Professional SharePoint 2007 Design 978-0-470-28580-0 User Manual
Product codes
978-0-470-28580-0
Sanford
c01.tex
V3 - 08/13/2008
2:49pm
Page 1
Why Design?
When people attempt to take up Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 (MOSS 2007) as a
profession, or even as a hobby, they immediately begin by trying to understand how to
make the portal work. This is probably an obvious path; to make SharePoint work, you have to,
well, make it work. Beginners toil with custom lists, site administration, and out-of-the-box Web
parts. They may start getting into security and document libraries and slightly more advanced
topics. Some more advanced (or brave) users may even get into custom development and
modification in SharePoint and its integration with other technologies.
profession, or even as a hobby, they immediately begin by trying to understand how to
make the portal work. This is probably an obvious path; to make SharePoint work, you have to,
well, make it work. Beginners toil with custom lists, site administration, and out-of-the-box Web
parts. They may start getting into security and document libraries and slightly more advanced
topics. Some more advanced (or brave) users may even get into custom development and
modification in SharePoint and its integration with other technologies.
But when is it time to learn about design and branding when it comes to the SharePoint portals
these people are designing? Should they learn it in the beginning? Or perhaps wait until they have
a solid understanding of all other principles related to MOSS 2007? And, once they learn good
design concepts, when is it time to worry about the site’s look and feel? Is there a good time? If so,
should it come at the beginning of the planning process? At the end?
these people are designing? Should they learn it in the beginning? Or perhaps wait until they have
a solid understanding of all other principles related to MOSS 2007? And, once they learn good
design concepts, when is it time to worry about the site’s look and feel? Is there a good time? If so,
should it come at the beginning of the planning process? At the end?
Unfortunately, too often MOSS 2007 developers put little to no emphasis on the actual look and feel
of the sites they are designing. There could be any number of reasons that this happens. Maybe it’s
because, from a business sense, it’s hard to quantify good design. Sure, any analyst can show that
with the addition of this new feature of the Web site subscription revenue went up by x number of
dollars. It’s harder to evaluate, though, if a site becomes more or less popular because of the way
it looks and feels. This is especially true for a completely new site because there are no historical
numbers to use to determine how much difference the site’s aesthetics make. Conversely, if a site
has been online for three years and one day a total redesign is introduced and within three months
sales double, it might be easier to give the credit to the design (although it might be just as easy not
to). And what of the sites that generate no real revenue? Perhaps new and/or repeat visits would
be able to quantify good design, but even this would be hard to measure. So maybe this is part of
the reason.
of the sites they are designing. There could be any number of reasons that this happens. Maybe it’s
because, from a business sense, it’s hard to quantify good design. Sure, any analyst can show that
with the addition of this new feature of the Web site subscription revenue went up by x number of
dollars. It’s harder to evaluate, though, if a site becomes more or less popular because of the way
it looks and feels. This is especially true for a completely new site because there are no historical
numbers to use to determine how much difference the site’s aesthetics make. Conversely, if a site
has been online for three years and one day a total redesign is introduced and within three months
sales double, it might be easier to give the credit to the design (although it might be just as easy not
to). And what of the sites that generate no real revenue? Perhaps new and/or repeat visits would
be able to quantify good design, but even this would be hard to measure. So maybe this is part of
the reason.
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