80 / 20 Rule

The 80 / 20 rule is also known as the Pareto principle and in essence says that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. It can also be applied to websites, where 80% of activity can be tracked down to just 20% of its content.

For my Internet Design 291 project I had to produce an 8 page website on coffee. The site was designed to show people how to have cafe quality coffee in their own home. The content covered the whole process from buying the coffee, grinding the coffee, coffee machines to use and even the different styles of coffee they can make.

Pages included

• About Coffee
• Coffee Beans
• Coffee Grinders
• Coffee Machines
• Coffee Styles
• Coffee Equipment
• Troubleshooting
• Links

In order to satisfy the assignment requirements I needed 8 individual pages , as well as 1500 words. On reflection these requirements don't lend themselves to adhere to the 80 / 20 rule.

If I was to rebuild this assignment for a real client I would probably focus on the fact that if I wanted to know how to make coffee, I would probably want it all on one single page. In this project the process is spread out over 6 pages. To apply the 80 / 20 rule to this site I would have the most important part of the content on two main pages, with the rest of the content still available but by the way of secondary navigation pages.

This would make the site a lot leaner in the navigation structure and locate the important content on the home page of the site. By applying the rule it shpould make the site more appealing to first time visitors and increase the ratio of users who stay and use the site.