Choosing a
Professional Web Site Designer 
By Carl D. Millholland
A Web site is a reflection of the company it represents. The more comfortable a person is with the site, the better that person is likely to feel about the company. A visit to your company's Web site is a virtual visit to your company. No matter how slick the graphics, how effective the programming, or how fast your server, if your visitor becomes lost, cannot easily find information, or cannot understand it, your Web site is ineffective. Effective corporate Web sites require professional design. But how do you choose a professional Web site designer? How do you find someone who has had many years' experience in a medium that is only a few years old?
Technical communicators have long been presenting corporate product information in highly usable formats. An effective technical manual-a good old ink-and-paper manual such as a user's guide-requires a well-developed flow of information. A manual that fails to be understandable goes unread. A manual that is read adds considerable value to the product it supports. The basic elements of a technical manual are the basic elements of good Web page design: an easily understood table of contents; sections that present information in logical, digestible chunks of information; an index that quickly gets users to the information they need; and an overall page design that is pleasing and that orients the user within the document.
Words have not yet been divorced from information. No matter the number of icons, buttons, or wizards, computer-based communication normally requires some amount of text. Also, written communication becomes increasingly important as its content becomes increasingly complex. Technical communicators have ridden the wave of technological advancement for many years. Their profession is to communicate those advancements to a more general readership. The media for delivering information undergo constant change, but the underlying principles of good communication, verbal and visual, do not. Long before the Web browser, technical communicators were generating hypertext-based Help files as an integral part of software applications and GUI-type environments. In creating paper-based manuals, technical communicators have been introduce to page mar up methods similar to HTML tagging and to text/paragraph style and template management. The current crop of Web page authoring tools are not unlike the page layout programs technical communicators have used for years. A good technical communicator knows how to adapt to changing media, how to develop new skills, and how to deliver effective content. The manager of a large-scale Web site development effort should be someone who is familiar with the technology and techniques of effective Web site design. The person should have the technical skills to understand programming, server administration, the Internet, and telecommunications. In addition, this person should have a good sense of visual design. While probably not a visual designer, he or she should know how to use graphic design effectively. Most important, this person should be well versed in the art of presenting information.
For all these reasons, an experienced technical communicator may well be your most valuable asset when it comes time to create a Web site.
