Six Key Features of Web Sites that Work

Federated Department Stores (www.fds.com/home.asp) leverages multimedia to offer a slide show of its products and animations of important announcements. Both technologies catch the eye without causing significant download delays.

Quick Downloadability

While too many Web sites feature every technological bell and whistle known to man, savvier designers who strip the bloat out of Web multimedia get quicker downloads and visitors who don’t click away in frustration. Both Adobe’s Photoshop ($468; www.adobe.com) and Ulead’s PhotoImpact ($90; www.ulead.com) have image-optimizer tools that help reduce a graphic’s size to its bare essentials.