The World Wide Web now has on the order of billions of web pages available for viewing to end users. These comprise of e-commerce applications, informational sites, corporate sites, online communities and interactive multimedia applications. Though the scope of these applications may vary greatly, there are several basic underlying principles which apply to all of them. In general, all of these are applications that will be used by entities other than those within your organization. For this reason, it is imperative to make a good impression and make sure the user is able to efficiently and enjoyably carry out the actions for which they have come to your site.

Regardless of the scope of the application; appearance, presentation, navigation and ease of use are qualities that the user will look for. With so many offerings over the World Wide Web, users can be as choosy as they would like to be. If your organization cannot fulfill their needs, they will quickly find another that can.