Merging art and explanation in nonlinear Web site design

Web site design can successfully merge artistic presentation and technical explanations. This is only possible however if these genres are unified within a general theory of information that nevertheless can manage real differences between genres. A common framework for all information types is found in Carroll´s minimalist theory. Successful Web design enables rapid, nonlinear access to information. Such access is critically dependent on home page and subpage summaries. Minimalist theory suggests that effective summaries across genres must incorporate three elements; (A) definitive task questions with (B) answers providing concrete examples to (C) illustrate schematic concepts. Two specific Web sites are compared as examples, one lacking these elements, and one specifically designed to implement them