Evolution of web site design: implications for medical education on the Internet

Since its inception, the world wide web (WWW) has possessed the potential for becoming a 'watershed' medium for conveying complex, structured information across vast temporal and geographical barriers. In 1995, the MedWorld project (http:(/)/medworld.stanford.edu) was created at the Stanford University School of Medicine in an effort to innovate and explore the design process of creating WWW applications specifically for medical education. Until recently, the evolution of WWW applications has been mainly driven by technological advances in client-server technology, enabling or translating traditional modes of collaborative medical education (e.g. voice, presence, print, motion) into WWW devices and applications. Many of these applications, while technologically advanced, lack focused development of interface and interactivity design, which may enhance learning experiences. WWW applications which incorporate design innovation in parity with advances in client-server technology have been termed, 'third generation' web sites and have the potential to improve the quality of WWW applications designed for medical education. This work describes how the MedWorld project has created a 'third generation' WWW application by utilizing innovation in information, interface and interactivity design to create innovative WWW technology for the medical education arena.