A Rant and A Few Resources For The Well Rounded Web Craftsman
April 13, 2004 | 
34 Comments
Bear with my opening rant. It does have a point, but if you want to skip to the resources, feel free to do so.
Opening Rant
There has been quite a bit of strife and argument in the various Web professional communities lately. Most of it unnecessary. There has been talk about the lack of focus on people and usability, with too much focus on tools and techniques. There’s been a few design vs. usability dust ups. We’ve got gurus vs. bloggers.
It seems like various issues and camps keep getting pitted against each other when really these things should be working together to make a better Web. Design and Usability for example should not be in any way mutually exclusive on the Web. None of these things need be.
I’m going to make a bold statement that seems obvious to me. Design, accessibility, Web standards, ROI, people, aesthetics, usability, CSS, information architecture, content and the rest are all valuable and deserve attention.
When you work in the real world you need to pay attention to all these issues and more. I don’t care where you sit. You could be a specialist or jack-of-all trades, it’s still important that you keep tabs on what is happening around you.
You can be a designer and advocate for users. You can preach aesthetics and preach access — you don’t have to choose between these things. Yes they can impact each other — find a balance and you should be ok.
What many of us who are involved in these discussions need to realize is that there are many others out there to whom these issues are new. Think of all the people didn’t make it to SXSW. Think about this — there are thousands of Flash designers out there who associate the Web with Flash. Hell, forget SXSW spending too much time on CSS — Flash has a few conferences all to itself. Are there any CSS-only conferences?
I guess my point with this rant is that I’ve seen way to much unneeded strife and frankly quite a bit of general disrespect. Granted, most of this has come via trolls, but it’s there and I get the feeling that a message is getting out that has no place being heard.
From my point of view it’s important for any Web creative to do their best to keep abreast of many issues, techniques and technologies. It’s ok to talk about CSS and focus on usability — it’s a good thing to be into both — figure out where CSS can help users and you’ve married the two. This goes for just about anything.
So what’s the point? We’ll instead of just bitching about it, I want to offer up some resources that I feel can help make just about anyone a more rounded Web craftsman. These are most introductory resources, but I feel if you work on the Web and you’ve not checked them out you could really do yourself a service by doing so.
What is a “Web craftsman” you ask? That’s a term I’m borrowing from Nick Finck that I’m going to use here to encompass a myriad of Web roles, from the Web producer to the Web designer and everything in between.
We’re all in this together people. It would behoove you to learn a bit about all the different things that can help make the Web, and your projects, better for everyone involved.
The Resources
Here they are, in no particular order, to keep it simple I’ve chosen one book per subject, obviously there is much more to be found, but these will get you started on your way to becoming a more well rounded Web professional. I don’t consider any of these more important than another — I’ve found them all to be helpful in their own way. Feel free to add your own resources in the comments.
Usability
Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. This is a must read for every Web craftsman. It’s a very easy to follow, short and sweet, introduction to Web usability. It’s a real eye-opener for those who’ve not had much exposure to users. It won’t make you a guru, but it’ll point you in the right direction.
Information Architecture
Information Architecture for The World Wide Web by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville. The IA book that will teach you just enough to be dangerous. It’s a very easy to read introduction to IA. Many Web craftsman practice IA every day with out even knowing it — this book will help you get to doing it better.
Web Standards
Designing With Web Standards by Jeffery Zeldman. The book on Web standards. It’s easy to read, full of clear, logical reasoning with a focus on ROI. I highly recommend everyone working on the Web today read this book.
Flash (yes Flash, kinda)
MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer by Hillman Curtis. I still think Flash has a place on the Web and while this isn’t really a Flash book, it talks a lot about Flash and really gets into the process, practice and inspiration of new media, Web and motion design.
CSS
Eric Meyer on CSS by Eric Meyer. A good introduction to CSS with lots of practical examples. This book helped me get over my stumbling blocks with CSS and it could help you too!
Accessibility
Building Accessible Websites by Joe Clark. I found this book to be a great introduction to accessibility for the Web. It’s focused, clear and provides quite a few practical examples of how making an accessible Web site will make your Web site better for everyone.
Contingency Design
Defensive Design for the Web by Matthew Linderman and Jason Fried. I’m still reading this one, but I’ve found it to be extremely helpful in talking about how to help users with some of the trickier aspects of Web design. Forms, error messages, help messages and the like can be the bane of any Web craftsman. This book really helps to shed some light on the subject.
Design
Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things by Donald Norman. There aren’t really a whole lot of good “Web” design books as they tend to focus more on technique than theory. Norman’s book does shed some light on why people prefer to use things that are well designed. It has a surprising amount of relevancy to Web design, if you look for it.
Filed under: Web General
Comments
1. cqmoi said:
Pardon the ignorance, but what does ROI stand for?
Posted on April 13, 2004 12:37 PM | #
2. Grant said:
ROI = Return On Investment
I’ve noticed the samething too. The funny thing is that most of those people realize that each component is necessary in the overall process of user-centered design. However, each comes off as evangelizing one particular area since that is what they are subject matter experts on, or are currently focusing on.
Posted on April 13, 2004 12:46 PM | #
3. Richard MacManus said:
Firstly, I like the term “web craftsman”!
That’s a good point by Grant, a lot of this is down to “specialists” spitting in the wind at each other. I’m one of those “generalists” and I like to learn and practise lots of different web techniques - design, programming, strategy, usability, heck even a little bit of Flash. In cricket they call them “all-rounders”. Anyway, that’s a good summary of books to read Keith and I agree with your point that we’re all in it together.
Posted on April 13, 2004 01:37 PM | #
4. Andrei Herasimchuk said:
I think Hell just froze over. I actually agree with you 110%.
You might want to add these as well:
Making the Web Work, by Bob Baxley
Envisioning Information, by Edward Tufte
The Elements of Typographic Style, by Robert Bringhurst
Interaction of Color, by Josef Albers
Posted on April 13, 2004 02:32 PM | #
5. Didier Hilhorst said:
Some very thoughtful writing here. I like it! While I (as Andrei) agree with you 110% I nonetheless think it doesn’t hurt to stirr a little commotion or controversy from time to time. It tends to keep people alert and involved. Additionaly persons like yourself write up a nice and very to-the-point overview.
I think you just helped me out with the subject of my second column. Time to start writing again.
Posted on April 13, 2004 03:30 PM | #
6. Cameron Moll said:
Great starter list, Keith. There’s definitely a plethora of additional topics to round out the Web Craftsman – SEO, marketing, copywriting, and more. I’ll toss out “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!” as a great resource for general advertising & copywriting tips.
Posted on April 13, 2004 03:57 PM | #
7. Natalie said:
This is a fantastic article for me to point several zealots to in order to demonstrate my “why cant we all just get along” point of view.
Very good resources too - even though I have most of them already I’m sure many more do not.
Thanks again!
Posted on April 13, 2004 05:41 PM | #
8. Nick Finck said:
Well-said keith. I think your right on the mark man. I am frankly getting tired of the bickering of experts. I would just like to get the Web industry to start looking more like a professional contender as a medium. Oh, and thanks for the credit… I used ‘Craftsman’ because quite frankly I could figure out a more general term for all of the hats I wear.
Posted on April 13, 2004 06:41 PM | #
9. Scrivs said:
But without the bickering how can I prove that usability experts (IAs, designers, what have you) are important in their own rights? If people start to realize that design and usability are interdependent they might start ignoring Nielsen some and he certainly wouldn’t have that.
I like to see the bickering. Makes for a good read (even though you are right Keith).
OT: This form never remembers my info…ever.
Posted on April 13, 2004 07:22 PM | #
10. Phil B. said:
Keith,
Definitely a strong article & one I am adding to my favorites. Well done.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my manager the other day. I told her I was interested in learning a bit about graphic design, in addition to the search engine marketing & rudamentary programming that I do right now. After she overcame her shock, she asked me why, to which I responded: “In this business, no one can be a one-trick pony…”. This article (and the responses of everyone who have posted comments on it) only serves to re-enforce this belief. No one can rely on a single skill and hope to make a career out of the web.
Posted on April 13, 2004 07:32 PM | #
11. Joseph Lindsay said:
Keith,
You sum it up well again. I agree with you. I think that the tendency to focus on one discipline over another is blinds a lot of ‘web/interface/usability developers/designers/publishers/masters/whatever’ (pick whichever applies) probably is due to a couple of things:
1. People focus on what they know best
2. 5 years ago there were teams of specialists doing individual jobs.
I think that the infamous dot-com burst and necessary triming of web teams has left a lot of individuals out there going there own way and peddling their own proficiencies.
Posted on April 13, 2004 10:41 PM | #
12. Keith said:
I want to be clear in that I do think there is a place for specialists. I just feel that even if you are a specialist, you should acknowledge (and respect) what other specialists bring to the table.
Say your a Flash guru. Can you tell me 100% that you’d never have any use for the expertise of a CSS guru? Or vis versa? CSS can be blended wonderfully with Flash.
One of the best ways to garner respect is via education. That’s why I think it’s important, even if you are a specialist, to educate yourself a bit.
Teach what you know and try and understand what you don’t – thats what I’d like to see more of. Hopefully as we carve out this vast, new frontier called the Web, we’ll see more of that.
Posted on April 13, 2004 10:59 PM | #
13. Ian said:
Keith,
Great article. I loved it. I too would wonder why people are so hesistant to show respect for other guru’s skills thinking they are the ones who can do it all. Well written and good sources and information thanks for the good read.
Posted on April 14, 2004 04:42 AM | #
14. max cohen said:
“Granted, most of this has come via trolls”
If you want respect, stop disrespecting others.
-max the troll
Posted on April 14, 2004 04:49 AM | #
15. Fred said:
In regards to Ian’s comment (“I too would wonder why people are so hesistant to show respect”). The main problem is the hypocricy of some ‘experts’. There is one post on 13 April by Steve that points out Tantek’s 404 error page that is not customized. This is a usability/accessibility problem. If Tantek is prepared to go after people for not using XHTML/CSS for usable web sites, it’s hard to take him seriously when he doesn’t take care of basic error pages.
I’m also confused by the trolls remark. It’s the trolls who buy the books and read the articles of the experts. It’s the trolls who continue working hard and polishing their skills. If you don’t want trolls commenting, don’t put a comments area on sites. If you don’t want to hear from trolls, whitelist just the few ‘gurus’ that you want to hear from and ignore the rest of us. If you don’t want trolls to defend you, remove e-mail addresses from your pages.
As for the idea that a lot of the talk lately has been “unnecessary”, it hasn’t been. This all seemed to start from Jason Fried’s comments that there’s been a lot of talk about CSS and not enough about people. Guess what. That’s true. Everywhere I turn the discussion has been about XHTML/CSS. Those web standards we worship are there to help people use web sites. I’ve found many ‘experts’ may know this, but it isn’t being preached and the trolls are given the wrong impression. But then again, may be the trolls know this and the experts don’t.
Believe it or not, respect has to be earned. I respect Zeldman more because he came back and admitted he missed the point Jason Fried was making.
Posted on April 14, 2004 05:23 AM | #
16. Keith said:
Max – Not sure what you are saying. I’m very respectful of everyone who leaves a non-offensive, on topic comment here. What’s hard to swallow is when people don’t stay on topic, or even outright dis someone with no way to reply back (no email, no Web site) and usually those come from trolls. Take that as you will.
I love to hear from people who have something constuctive to say. What bothers me is off-handed remarks that have nothing to do with the conversation and nit-picks.
Fred – I don’t think you are seeing my point, yet at the same time you prove it. All I’m really saying here is that as a community we can talk about all these things. There are people who don’t know about XHTML/CSS. There are people who want to learn more about usability and making the Web work for people.
There is room for all of these discussions and I, for one, would like to concentate on that and not all this “talking about what we should talk about” and this back and forth bickering I see going on.
I’m sorry you have a problem with the troll comment, but it’s true. So what if Tantek’s 404 page isn’t customized? Get over it. I’m sure if you were to look hard enough you’ll find problems with every “experts” site. This is what I’m talking about. It’s just more noise that has very little to do with anything besides showing someone up. I agree it makes Tantek look a bit like a hypocrite – and while I don’t agree with what he said – it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
When you post as much as some of these people, you’re bound to make mistakes and post things you shouldn’t. I think it’s lame that when you do, some people forget all the good things you’ve done and jump all over you.
It takes alot of courage to allow people to comment. Be glad people still do.
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:41 AM | #
17. Laura said:
Keith,
You’ve provided a terrific insight in this article.
More resources:
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/support/Training/Online/webdesign/
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:43 AM | #
18. Alex said:
Great job Keith! You stole the words right out of my mouth. Although I do agree with Jason Fried in that we should not so much concentrate on XHTML/CSS, isn’t that what you are saying also?
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:51 AM | #
19. manuel said:
if we include Meyer (and even Zeldman) I think we should also have some book on client/server programming as well… js/php/sql… what’s a craftsman to do otherwise? Also some graphic design (as mentioned by Andrei) would be needed.
Or is that after we’ve read rosenfeld and norman, someone else’s gonna do the job?
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:51 AM | #
20. Alex said:
Great job Keith! You stole the words right out of my mouth. Although I do agree with Jason Fried in that we should not so much concentrate on XHTML/CSS, isn’t that what you are saying also?
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:52 AM | #
21. max cohen said:
“Not sure what you are saying. I’m very respectful of everyone who leaves a non-offensive, on topic comment here. What’s hard to swallow is when people don’t stay on topic, or even outright dis someone with no way to reply back (no email, no Web site) and usually those come from trolls. “
I gotchya. I took the troll comment out of context and I apologize to you for that.
-max
Posted on April 14, 2004 07:53 AM | #
22. Trolly said:
(off topic a bit, sorry re: the troll comment)
I’m not offended by the troll comment. I think I know what you are saying. What does bother me is the comment by Fred (#15) that implies that either you, Keith or Tantek, doesn’t deserve (or have earned) respect.
Of course you both do.
I respect Zeldman as much as the next troll, but he plays it pretty safe. No comments, doesn’t post near as much as you, and what he does say he often goes back on. I think it takes much more ballz (‘scuse the expression) to allow trolls like myself to read and comment.
Like you said, everyone should just try and work together and I think you are helping to move that along.
Posted on April 14, 2004 08:02 AM | #
23. Kyle Fox said:
As a fellow “troll” I don’t take any offense to what Keith is saying. Although, I will say it’s not always trolls who disrespect. Most of it, maybe, but not all of it. Look at Tantek…his remarks to fried we’re disrespectful in my book.
The problem is that when you don’t leave a valid email address behind or some other way to contact the person doing the commenting it can be very hard to take. I think this is what the main problem is. This is where most of the disrespecting comes in. You want to “know” who is disagreeing with you, look them in the eye, so to speak…
A negative comment from “Keith” that links back to “Asterisk” might be easeir to swallow than a comment from “George” that links to yeah@rightsucker.com.
That is where the “troll” comment comes from. That’s why I don’t make negative comments. Once I have my site live though, that will be a differnt story! 8^)
Posted on April 14, 2004 08:02 AM | #
24. Georg said:
Being new out here, I keep running into the word *avoid* a bit too often. It is about avoiding problems in web-design (or whatever name is appropriate). Avoid this and avoid that, and you’ll be fine.
Glad I didn’t see that word here.
Should I end by just stating that I agree with all of the above?
Not quite, but you have just given me a new tool in my toolbox.
Thanks
Posted on April 14, 2004 09:52 AM | #
25. Brenda said:
in repsone to #22, maybe there would be more respect of trolls for gurus if they didn’t see those gurus disrespecting others. tantek goes after jason and then when a response is given to the tantek smartass remarks (something zeldman doesn’t buy in to) tantek backpeddles and says it was meant as ‘satirical’. where’s the ballz in that?
Posted on April 14, 2004 10:08 AM | #
26. Ste Grainer said:
Not to pimp my own weblog, but I’ve been thinking a lot along the same lines of your rant for several months now. I’ve proposed an idea for a general web advocacy group, and I’m curious how other Web craftsmen out there would react to it.
Posted on April 14, 2004 11:20 AM | #
27. Jennifer Grucza said:
Weird, why are people equating trolls with non-experts? A troll is someone who posts something deliberately inflammatory or disrespectful to get everyone riled up. Usually that’s all they do, and they do it repeatedly.
Posting anonymously does not make you a troll, and being a newbie does not make you a troll either.
While I’ve seen tons of trolls on message boards, forums, and newsgroups, it seems that blog comments seem pretty free of them - probably mostly because the person running a blog has full power to delete the posts before most people read them.
Sorry to be so off-topic, Keith. :) I totally agree with what you’re saying in your article. Personally, I think I would get really bored if I were focussed totally on one aspect of web development (web craftsmanship?). Learning about standards, usability, design principles, programming, and accessibility - all of them - keeps it interesting.
Posted on April 14, 2004 12:05 PM | #
28. Nollind Whachell said:
Keith in a nutshell you are saying that balance is crucial here. In advocating that, you are stating that people should not go to extremes in one direction or the other but look at all aspects as equally important. When I read Jason’s post about people, I read it as someone who saw designers going to extreme’s in one direction (i.e. CSS) and who wanted to put a balance back into place as well (i.e. focus on people just as much).
BTW with regards to books, I’d add for Process the following book, Web ReDesign: Workflow that Works.
Posted on April 14, 2004 08:52 PM | #
29. Pete Trachy said:
Another process book aka, how to keep your experts from spending all day bikering. Ani Phyo’s “Return on Design”, review by Digital Web.
Posted on April 14, 2004 09:46 PM | #
30. seriocomic said:
When we get involved and passionate about what we do it’s easy to overlook the basics and strike a harmonious balance.
One page I always try to visit to make sure I’m not straying to far is Art and the Zen of web sites. It’s old but still relevant when remembering to keep things simple (something I have trouble doing I admit).
Posted on April 15, 2004 02:21 AM | #
31. satapher said:
resources that cost money shouldnt be referred to as resources on the net.
Posted on April 16, 2004 04:45 PM | #
32. Steve J said:
The best way to deal with trolls is treat them like spam: hit the delete key, literally or figuratively. The only purpose of such remarks is to goad someone into reacting, so don’t legitimize it by responding.
The best way I’ve found to avoid joining the trolls is to make friends with a text editor. Whenever I feel the need to point out all the mistakes someone has made, I fire up the editor and write it all down. I go into detail and provide supporting evidence for all my arguments. I proof-read it and make changes. I save it on my hard drive. Then, more often than not, I delete it. The effect is cathartic, and on those few occassions when I decide to post it, I do so after having turned it into a legitimate discussion point.
Aristotle is credited with a quote along the lines of, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” I believe that says it all. When someone else speaks, listen and think. Then when you accept or reject the idea you do so on its merits.
A point I learned from a lecture on musical style: I don’t need to degrade your taste in music in order to elevate my own. I’ll tell you what I think is good, but if you want to listen to something else, well, they’re your ears.
Finally, “the web” is rife with new technologies and techniques (yes, good design is a learned technique), and no one person can be expected to be an expert at everything. The best approach is to find out what you’re good at and become really good at it, and remember where to find help for the rest of the stuff.
Posted on April 16, 2004 07:05 PM | #
33. Tony said:
Great article. I agree totally, and have debated a similar argument with friends, co-workers, and strangers alike.
I’ve never understood how any professional web craftsman can argue that design and usability are mutially exclusive. I’ve been in more than one heated debate where someone was arguing either: a) “Don’t bother with design, because usability is what’s important”, or b) “Don’t bother with usability, because design is most important.” For me, it’s painfully obvious that design and usability go hand in hand. A design fails if it’s not usable, and usable sites will benefit from aesthetically pleasing design.
Posted on April 19, 2004 01:57 PM | #
34. Steven Streight said:
Yes, this pendulum swings both ways. Ugly but functional, or pretty but unusable.
I would add Nick Usborne’s book NET WORDS, his brilliant text on writing web and email copy.
I also like Thomas Powell’s WEB DESIGN:THE COMPLETE REFERENCE.
When a designer says, “I can do anything I want,” this is true, but the bellowing of an amateur.
When a usabilitist says, “Usability is all that matters,” we again are in the presence of an amateur.
Posted on April 29, 2004 03:48 PM | #
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