People approach web sites in very
different ways to how we design them
- They skim pages for clues, instead
of reading
- They make snap decisions, instead
of evaluating and judging carefully
- They might not even be looking at
the complete picture
- They are driven by their goals, not
ours
Designers need special skills to
succeed in this environment
- We must gain the best possible
insight into our users' goals, so that we can help achieve them.
- We must get clear on our design's
purpose, and have the mental discipline to stick to it
- We must pursue simplicity
ruthlessly - if an element adds complexity but not value, it must be
changed
To start learning ways of designing
for real users, we can gain insights into what the brain is good at.
This provides a useful foundation for developing and evaluating design
techniques.
Fortunately, the mass experience of
digital design is at our disposal, and provides us with patterns and conventions
that are proven to work.
Contents
Reduce, re-use, recycle
- These 3 principles of
sustainability work really well as a web designer's mantra
- Attention
Map
- Pencil & paper tool for
planning page layout
- Design like no-one's
watching
- Designers need to learn to look at
their work through fresh eyes
- The
Design Spectrum
- A visual tool for picturing the
relative aesthetic and functional elements of a design solution
- Don't Decorate,
Communicate!
- Concentrate on the content of the
message you're communicating, which is far more important than how it
looks
- Golden
Rule of web design
- My golden rule - a simple
touchstone to help all design decisions
- Pursuit of the Original
- The value of laziness in design,
and why the pursuit of the original can be detrimental to design success
- Simplicity
in web design
- Explains why the principle of
Simplicity is so helpful in web design
- Think
Then Do
- A discipline for visual designers
that minimises fiddling
- Work
smart, not clever
- Why designers should practice
working smart instead of being clever.
- 10 Productivity tips
- My top 10 tips for working more
productively
- My Workstation
- A tour round a pro web designer's
desk and the 10 tools I can't live without.
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