So, I was reading the fairly easy-to-read and understandable Stylin’ With CSS by Charles Wyke-Smith and it hit me that this was the first computer jargon book that I have read since probably my computer programming class in high school teaching us how to write hangman programs in DOS! Whoa!!
Anyway, the main topic I would like to raise and discuss is this idea of presentation on the Web and its importance. Let me preface this by saying I have never been much of a “surfer” so maybe my opinion is in the minority, but designs of websites has never been much of a necessity for me in picking which sites to use or become fixated with using. Now, I am not saying presentation is unimportant or should be disregarded - if one has the knowledge, design-sense and ability to make one’s site pleasing to the eye, well by all means go for it. But my favorite site (or at least the one I have used for the longest and that I use most frequent), Yahoo! has, for a long time, been criticized for its lack of good appearance. The newer version has gotten better reviews, but I have used and loved Yahoo! for over seven years now. And as for Google, while Luke Wroblewski raved about its small but creative design changes to its logo over the years, honestly I have never noticed! When I looked at the different logos in his digression on Website personalities, it was hard for me to recall any of them and I have used Google fairly consistently for years as well.
In other words, I think design, creativity and appearance is definitely important to some people (and maybe most people), but it has never been important to me. Or, when ranking a website’s importance, usability, ease of navigation, content and reliability all rank well ahead of presentation. And yes, presentation corresponds to some of those criteria, but on its own, it is way down on my list of priorities.
30 January 2007 at 9:48 am
Steven,
Good thoughts.
Your comment on Stylin with CSS brought a chuckle - I remember a “computer science” class in college that consisted of writing flow diagrams and DOS - the only “computer lab” time available was on Saturday evening, so that’s when we actually interacted with a machine.
Don’t underestimate the importance of appearance and typography. We simply live in a visual age. The biggest challenge I faced when I worked in publishing was offering readers a “good read.” It became increasingly obvious all those visual design element (the appropriate use of white space, picture placement, logo size and placement to name a few) were more critical than the text itself. Many times the art/design folks would place the visual elements on the pages and force us editors to cram 10 pounds of text into a two pound sack.
Wroblewski’s comments echoed what I’ve heard before. Space=pages=$$ is the main issue in the print medium. At first the internet seemed to offer an unlimited amount of space (compared with print), but the nature of the internet requires a far more visual presentation than pages of text. Subtle wording and nuances have been sacrificed at the intense graphics and “dancing bologna.” - Marty
30 January 2007 at 4:52 pm
I understand your thought. I hate being confronted with needless details when I am trying to do something. However, I do not think we can any longer separate web design and ascetic concerns from the content being presented. If we have a desire to truly present knowledge with people in the competitive world of web information, we must present it in a way that is attention grabbing. I relate this to my experience in both careers. As a bill collector I had to get peoples attention to pay me before they paid someone else. As a public school teacher in a middle school I must craft my lessons in such a way that the young man sitting in the back of the room pays at least a little attention to the lesson while he is smiling and gazing at the young woman sitting across the isle from him. It is all about crafting the message in such a way that gets attention.
Mark S.
1 February 2007 at 7:52 pm
I’m going to echo the thoughts here, Steven. You ignore design at your own peril. The way I look at it is how I feel about music at a party: good music doesn’t make a party good, since you have to have many other elements there, too. Things like the right mix of people, good food, accessible booze, a condusive space…. But bad music will make a party bad in a second, all by itself. Same with design — your content can be stellar, but presented badly it’s not going to have the same impact. -Chris
5 February 2007 at 4:15 pm
Steven, Two weeks into Clio 2, and I’m convinced there’s a different way of writing for the web…presentation (i.e. style) either pulls you in or scares you off.
By the way, I haven’t been to your blog in quite a while and this version looks pretty sharp, although I miss the cockeyed picture!
- Bill
5 February 2007 at 8:39 pm
For you Bill, I may have to put it back up!
3 April 2007 at 2:14 pm
[...] But, one that I was particularly fascinated with and somewhat justified my early position in my first Blog Post of the semester that usability, accessibility and ease of navigation were more important to me than design or [...]