Designing for Web: Presenting Information
April 14, 2010
What encompasses Web design and what does it mean to us? Well, it would be challenging to narrow down a short list of specific keywords that describes the importance of Web design. I feel Web design is vital in presenting information to the end user in a fashion that is not only easy to read but more importantly accessible on different devices other than the browsers we use on our desktop computers.
The Web design landscape has changed dramatically over the years. You have the business perspective, in which design is still an important vehicle to build brand awareness or recognition. In regards to the personal user, we all tend to remember the places we like to buy our products from and we note the places that we don’t. Whether the design is for business or pleasure, it still all boils down to accessible information displayed or not displayed in an organized manner. A better way to put it, does this design meet the needs of the user? I read this interesting article on smashing magazine. The article talks about how many of the Flash only Websites are disappearing because of the growing use of javascript, and the upcoming HTML 5.0. I want accessibility to what’s important to me, and could care less about company legal battles over codecs or plugins. I know I’m not the only person that feels this way.
When I read this article on avoiding getting stuck in a design rut, it reminded me getting into safe zones at times whether it’s with a certain way of writing code, or maybe a style of texture or font. We all get inspiration from many different things and sometimes this allows us to lose focus on the end goal of satisfying the user needs. Design doesn’t have to be solely about visual appeal, for usability is just as important.
If you haven’t jumped on the Google Chrome bandwagon…Uhh, what on earth are you thinking? Read more.
I’m honestly happy that web designers are getting away from the flash craze, not only did it take pages much longer to load, it also made me unable to access them on my iPhone, constantly unsure about how a page or script was going to react when I rolled over something or clicked a link, and much more difficult to find the information I was looking for. You can make a site look great without turning it into an animated movie. Flash definitely has it’s place but holy overload for a a while there!
Some interesting points and a sane review of the Flash/HTML Standards way of publishing. In reading the articles I am wondering if you and others are familiar with “progressive enhancement” which is a way of understanding a best practice of dealing with all the issues concerning browsers, platforms, OS’s, etc. I highly recommend everyone read some articles about this process, beginning with sites like A List Apart and others.