In Part II I discussed the importance of personality in Web Design. Knowing and conveying who you are as a company is key to building relationships with clients and customers.

But we must keep in mind the notion of balance -- that is, portraying the company's personality in ways that are compatible and appealing to our customers. We discussed key points from the company's perspective, but let's briefly take a look at the other side: that of the customer.

A company may have certain goals for a Web site: things they wish to accomplish, and what they want users to do before, during and after their visits. Likewise, users have certain goals -- things they want to achieve and accomplish upon their visit. And these two sets of goals are not always the same.

Perhaps not the best example, but one that continues to spring up in my mind is Amazon.com. Primarily, of course, an online shopping site, I nonetheless often use it as an informational tool. Music wise, If I want to track down a song, artist, movie or book, learn about similar artists, or read reviews and opinions, I will often fire up a browser to head to Amazon.com -- their site is simply that easy and intuitive to browse and search.

Meanwhile, even though I'm not a customer that visit, their willingness to provide helpful and meaningful information helps build a relationship with me, and makes me more likely to become a customer in a future visit.

When formulating your goals, and strategies to achieve your goals, don't overlook those of your users as well. Often we can become so wrapped up in what we want them to do, the features they find useful are lost in the fray, and we turn our users away. It all comes back to balance: The yin and yang of an effective Web site.