More on the Web design rant.

October 18, 2002 | 0 Comments

In my inbox this morning I came across two things that dovetail into the rant I posted yesterday. Not that they support and conflict with my views - they just carry a similar theme.

In regards to content and the design of content Gerry McGovern tells us the Words make your website a success (ignore the typo in the title of that page - his site is still a success and we all make mistakes) and he can’t be more true. I think the single largest issue in terms of designing for the Web is the lack of content design. I’ve been party to countless focus groups and usability tests that all say the same thing - it’s the content, not the navigation, the look-and-feel, etc. that needs the most work. In the absence of a good writer on your Web team it falls to you to do your best to design this content. In most cases - not all - (see the rant) this content is made up of words - so it serves us to work on out Web writing and editing skills. Heck, that is the main reason I started Asterisk*.

In regards to usability I point you in the direction of Peter Morville’s Enemies of Usability wherein he points out several common barriers to usability and ways to get around them.

Filed under: Web Design