Verizon Employee Workshop Series

1
Verizon Employee Workshop Series

• Part 1 The World Wide Web
• Information Architecture
• Mike Webb, B.S. Communication Cornell University
  1997, VP IT

2
The Web

• Internet History Background
• World Wide Web (R-)evolution
• Significance in modern business

3
The Internets Military Origins

• 1960s
• Cold War threatened nuclear destruction
• Department of Defense ARPA (Advanced Research
  Projects Agency)
• ARPANET
• Decentralized
• Adaptable

(Net Timeline http//www.pbs.org/internet/timeli
ne/)
4
Academic Connection

• ARPANET first connected four U.S. universities
• 1970s e-mail popular among researchers
• Public gradually became aware
• 1982 first use of word Internet

(Net Timeline http//www.pbs.org/internet/timeli
ne/)
5
Personal Computers
http//ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/
http//www.apple-history.com/
6
Increased User-Friendliness
2001
1981
7
What is the World Wide Web?

• NOT the Internet
• ONE way of USING the Internet
• Analogous to E-Mail, IM, FTP, Telnet, etc.
• What is (was) the Information Superhighway?
• Media-friendly term for the WWW and Internet

8
Early development of the WWW

• 1993 Mosaic released, first graphical web
  browser
• 1994 Netscape released
• 1995 Microsoft Internet Explorer released

9
First-Generation Design

• Early designs were simple, primitive
• Cool to have a web site even for large
  companies

10
Modern Design

• Advanced web technologies
• Powerful control over layout
• Web sites are still cool, but only as long as
  theyre good

11
The Direction

• Web design is
• An Art
• A Science
• It has become Information Architecture

12
Business Significance

• For companies of almost any size
• Web presence was once a luxury
• Now it is a necessity
• Speed/efficiency of online communication is now
  indispensable

13
About Information Architecture

• IA is a Synthesis
• Technology is at the core
• Art/design/layout give form to the technology
• Organizational/logical thinking bring the site to
  life

14
A Good Web Site

• makes things easier/more convenient for both
  customer and company
• Everything is there for a reason
• Form follows function substance precedes style

15
E-Commerce is HOT

• Even in 1996, gt1billion/year was exchanged
  online
• Online commerce used to be a convenient
  supplement
• Now for many businesses it is an essential
  component
• More than ever, information (and IA) is at the
  heart of business

16
Thank you!

• Be sure to visit http//www.verizon.com/
• Reach me at
• mrwebb_at_verizon.com