Interfaces and web page design
Just to follow on what others have said, I also agree that Jakob Neilson's idea of the ideal web page design is very staid. I feel that his views on the design of web pages, are conservative to the point of stagnation.
This kind of conservative attitude almost contrasts the whole kind of ethos that new technology and the web is based on. The idea of pushing boundaries, challenging what we know, and forward thinking.
On the subject of design, I found it interesting to read the other day that more and more car manufacturers and designers ( I think this article was on BMW in particular) are moving away from the idea of having test groups of everyday people critique and input in to their new designs. Instead they are leaving the design to the designers, the consumers only avenue for critique is in the sales figures.
The thinking behind this is that in these test groups, people were expressing a strong preference for design cues and features that reflected contemporary trends. They liked what was cool now, and did not think about pushing the boundaries or what would be cool when the car was released. In short they were very conservative in their ideas, reflecting what they already knew, this was leading to conservative, re hashed car designs.
When leaving the design in the hands of designers, they could drive new trends and ideas rather that simply reflecting existing notions.
In the same way we could draw links (oh sweet puns...) to Neilson's ideas on web design. If we stop pushing new ideas, driving trends and coming up with new solutions to problems (in this case creating a clear, yet interesting interface) and simply follow what we already know (eg Neilson's 'ideal' web page) we just end up reiterating what we already know and the internet will denigrate into a stagnant pond of dullness. Easy to read, best way to get info across... dullness.
Thank god not everyone subscribes to the same idea of web page design, here are some interesting sites about web designs and interesting pages:
www.thebestdesign.com
www.theworldsbestwebsites.com
www.webbyawards.com
This kind of conservative attitude almost contrasts the whole kind of ethos that new technology and the web is based on. The idea of pushing boundaries, challenging what we know, and forward thinking.
On the subject of design, I found it interesting to read the other day that more and more car manufacturers and designers ( I think this article was on BMW in particular) are moving away from the idea of having test groups of everyday people critique and input in to their new designs. Instead they are leaving the design to the designers, the consumers only avenue for critique is in the sales figures.
The thinking behind this is that in these test groups, people were expressing a strong preference for design cues and features that reflected contemporary trends. They liked what was cool now, and did not think about pushing the boundaries or what would be cool when the car was released. In short they were very conservative in their ideas, reflecting what they already knew, this was leading to conservative, re hashed car designs.
When leaving the design in the hands of designers, they could drive new trends and ideas rather that simply reflecting existing notions.
In the same way we could draw links (oh sweet puns...) to Neilson's ideas on web design. If we stop pushing new ideas, driving trends and coming up with new solutions to problems (in this case creating a clear, yet interesting interface) and simply follow what we already know (eg Neilson's 'ideal' web page) we just end up reiterating what we already know and the internet will denigrate into a stagnant pond of dullness. Easy to read, best way to get info across... dullness.
Thank god not everyone subscribes to the same idea of web page design, here are some interesting sites about web designs and interesting pages:
www.thebestdesign.com
www.theworldsbestwebsites.com
www.webbyawards.com
posted by Anonymous at 11:52 am
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