Deleyna's Dynamic Designs

To fully appreciate this, play with the CSS Zen Garden link that I've included among my favorite sites. There are links available on the site that will change the look of the page completely. Try several of them. Each different version uses the same content!

At its simplest, a dynamic design is one that changes. The change can be prompted by the user, by the user's screen or browser, or by any number of changing conditions that you specify. For example, I have a site where snow falls on the home page when there is really snow falling outside the window.

You may have seen sites that say, "This site optimized for insert name of browser here" or "This site best viewed..." and some of them are well known and good sites. The problem is that a site like that sends a message to your customer. It says: you need to use the internet the way I want you to, or you won't be able to see my site. There are some customers who will happily go to the competition, just so they can do things their own way!

The solution to this problem is dynamic design. Let the user browse your site with whatever browser, whatever screen, even using a cell phone, and let the site do the thinking to make the experience useful for the customer.

Dynamic design is more than just making the user's browsing experience pleasant, however. It also includes dynamically generated content. That's content that changes based on a choice the user makes, or maybe a choice you make ahead of time. A good example is a store site that changes specials based on the time of year. This customization can be generalized or it can be specialized. Your site can answer your customer's common questions for you, leaving you more time to take care of meeting their needs. Your site can respond to customer's interests, making sure to provide them with customized suggestions.