Abstract

More and more websites and other online applications are created each year. With so many to choose from, the question for a person looking for a good option isn't "does this exist?" and is instead "is this one easier and faster to use than another one I can find?". Many websites are lacking in their user interface (UI) design. The user interface (UI) makes up the part of the website users first interact with. If a website is confusing, awkward, or just unpleasant, then many users will leave and find an alternative, or maybe just give up entirely. Despite this issue being prevalent today, many designers still believe the UI design isn't as important as the rest of the application design, or don't know how to design a UI well due to lack of expertise. This project builds a website by applying web user interface design principles from texts written by experts, studies, and other websites. The website displays an interactive natural history timeline covering earliest life on earth until the present. The purpose is to show how design principles can be studied and applied without other significant experience and can still have a strong, positive impact on the resulting website. The design principles are mostly easy to apply in this project and combine well with the goals of the website. This project doesn't conduct user testing on the website, and would have future work where it develops the website to be fully functional and conducts user testing with more intention for getting a website to be publishable with the help of the design principles.

Advisor

Visa, Sofia

Second Advisor

As'ad, Asa'd

Department

Computer Science

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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