Written by Shello Monday, 13 April 2009 05:29
The web is like a universe of its own based on the galaxy of content you can get from it. Whether you are looking for answers or just trying to pass the time by socializing with other people online, it exposes us to a whole new different territory where everyone can express and post what they want and need to share. It is a giant Milky Way based from human nature’s desire, knowledge and artistry. These three aspects correlate with each other in this pseudo akashic-driven creation which orbits around the human persona.
The web operates mostly through the use of websites. They are an online conduit of the people who are behind them. We should always be reminded that websites exist for convenience, and visiting one should never be an obstacle. If the universe has a solar system, then we should have them too in our virtual interstellar world – our websites.
When we say designing for convenience, it is all about making your websites accessible to your visitors. When I say accessible as a site owner, I mean to say being concise and complete in your design. Design is not only about the colors and the graphics that you put in your site. It goes farther as content management and organization would. In order to make them accessible, you need to make your visitors feel that stumbling into your site is not a waste of time, but rather something they can sate their quests for answers and having a reason for them to come back if needed. How do you achieve this? The three aspects will help you out.
Desire is all about making your visitors aspire for your website.
For the designer’s part, one should always consider that design isn’t always everything. There’s a certain design for a certain website, but nothing is general. It should always be reflective to the website’s content as well as your perspective of that. Also, you need to have the urge to do the site. You cannot come up with a good delivery if you are not inspired to do it because it is out of your comfort zone. Your interest in doing the site reflects in the output, which is always the accurate judgment.
For the visitor’s part, it is still your responsibility as a designer how to urge them to stay longer or giving them a reason to come back. These reasons range from the organization and completeness of your content to the aesthetic design - how it can form perfect synergy to fit their needs. In a designing perspective, it is all about catering to potential visitors by giving them what they want and what they are comfortable with. For example, a website that is all about books should contain easy accessible book synopses and excerpts as well as a responsible and organized design that reflects to their primary visitors.
Knowledge is sought by those who are curious. Website content is the fruit of all online knowledge and is usually what most visitors are looking for convenient reasons. Providing false, lacking and trivial information is not living up to that concept. Aesthetic design should not only be the staple aspect, it should always be equal and shared with substance, which is the quality of information your website has to offer.
Artistry is achieved by combining the first two aspects and turns them into a harmonious piece. An example of this, is a website which has an excellent flexible design as well as reliable and good content to boot. You cannot do with one that has some good content but you can’t actually get it because the design is so chaotic it’s hard to nail what you are looking for. Same thing with being awed with an awesome display of aesthetic victory but when it comes to information, it doesn’t have anything. It’s like a seeing a very beautiful person but has no brains to support his or her beauty. It’s not supposed to be achieving perfection, but doing something near perfect, by concocting a well balanced threshold, is possible.
With all these three aspects, it is impossible to not achieve something convenient for your visitors to enjoy. In this universe filled of random, interesting and sometimes adverse things, it is your responsibility as a designer to showcase temperament of what is you as well as maintaining the boundaries for convenient browsing. Enjoy.
