Despite this I did find several very interesting aspects =)
* I agree with Krug that fist timer links are pointless. In fact I hate them. It might be because I have what Krug calls a low/small reservoir. I just get frustrated easily when trying to navigate through certain sites. To have a "first time user link" that doesn't help is doubly as stressful. If you are frustrated enough to click on the link it better have a good explanation for navigating the site.
* I enjoyed his idea for varying a home page on your site. I think I will try and apply this to my own page for Writing in the Digital Age.
* Krug makes an amazing (and somewhat obvious point) that web designers are web users with their own strong ideas about what a site should look like. My own example of this is Krug's love of tabs, while I personally don't find tabs that appealing. I think they are probably the most useful if you have a site with a lot of information, such as amazon, but otherwise I like buttons or blocks to click on. Both of us are designing based on our own personal ideas of what we like best. But in our defense I think both options provide a positive experience for both web designers and users. Which brings me to my next point:
* I think one of Krug's biggest points was that web sites should be created to make it so each audience can get the best experience. This point is remarkably simple and yet remarkable on so many levels. I also like how Krug used this argument to end the constant debate between designers about how they should create their pages. The important question should be "What will be best for our audience to navigate and find what they need?" and not, as Krug said, "Is drop down best?" The bigger issues are what is important in a site. After addressing the basic struture and needs, then a designer should figure out ways to be creative and elegant.
I had exactly the opposite reaction - I found the first half the book a little boring because it was all about deep site navigation, but the second half about home pages & user testing was relevant to what we're doing in class.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I keep running in to with my site design is that I really don't know who to design it for - the professor? You folks in class? Future students? The idea seems to be that latter, especially with the multimedia letter aspect, but that's hard to plan for.
I agree that Krugg seems to be really leaning on one particular type of website. The whole "tab" thing works for the pages he's showing us because they ARE information heavy.
ReplyDeleteWhat about homepages that don't have alot of information? How should those look?
I agree with you that although it may sound simple to create a site where each audience gets the best experience, it would be incredibly difficult to satisfy everyone's needs. Just in your response you said you aren't a fan of tabs, yet Krug is. I think the biggest goal should be that everything on your page works and is easy to find, and after that everything is extra. If your design is attractive to half of the people that use your site than you are probably pretty successful. I think content is more important than design because it doesn't matter how great your design is if you don't have anything to show for.
ReplyDeleteI found the last half of the book to be aimed more towards business websites then anything else as well. However, Krug says in the beginning that he was going to use examples of mostly business sites, but that he felt they could carry over to any type of site. I had a hard time adjusting his questions of "what is this", "What is here", "What can I do here", yadda yadda to a personal home page. I wrote extensively about this in my blog.
ReplyDeleteI also commented on the section about how different people are going to make different sites. Graphic designers are going to produce state of the art sites, while marketing majors will most likely produce something that is fully functional and easy for the consumer to find things.
You wrote, "The important question should be "What will be best for our audience to navigate and find what they need?" and not, as Krug said, "Is drop down best?" The bigger issues are what is important in a site. After addressing the basic struture and needs, then a designer should figure out ways to be creative and elegant."
ReplyDeleteI also agree that designers should make their format decisions based on what will work best for that particular site. Websites can be considered to be just like arguments or presentations. Someone making an argument will have to decide whether they want to make their case with a speech, with visual aides, through writing, reaching their imagined audience aurally or visually. A website should be considered the same way. Know your audience and know how to best interact with them.
I agreed with a good portion of what you said, especially about how we should always design our web page on the basis of getting the audience to get involved in our experience. I believe that if there was something to work on, it would be to offer a more positive side to the beginning of your entry, even if you disagree with it, because some audience members are going to make their contrasting feelings known. I'm sure you can handle it though; lol. Anyways, you did a great job keeping yourself involved in your post, who you are and everything, because that's what these things are about. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteMark Burtick