Friday, November 2, 2007

Nielsen Annoys Me...

I am so sick of this man, can we please find another book? How about the last Harry Potter book?

In all seriousness, Nielsen's complaints have been getting to me. It might be because I am (self proclaimed) good with computers and technology, but the only reason why I know so much is because I realized early on that the computer will not explode when you press the wrong button. I don't give everyone the credit of being able to teach themselves how to use new technology, but when it comes to websites, its simply about exploring the site. However; Nielsen seems to think if a websites doesn't follow a traditional method, it's useless.

If we are to believe Nielsen's findings then we all need to create the most uninteresting and simplistic web sites on the internet. Granted, I believe people need hand-holding techniques even to get through their everyday lives, but must we cater to them? Do we have to stifle our creativity because someone is using a dial-up connection? I do agree with some of what he said about flash intro and repeating music, but to say "stick with familiar conventions" and "detect user bandwidth" doesn't work for me.

As designers, we have to find a niche in the world by displaying our work in a useful and interesting way. Compare web design to architecture; there are methods to built it but our design is the way to make it stand out.

5 comments:

Trevor B said...

Our studies show your text should be black, not blue:)

Unknown said...

That is true. Why is it blue not black?

drumdiva said...

Snape is innocent! :)

Anonymous said...

NO HARRY POTTER SPOILERS!!!! I'm only on book 6 and I already know way too much because everyone talks about it EVERYWHERE hahaha

I honestly might just stop reading.

Paul Fleck said...

Couldnt agree more. His book is a fair guide, but good god man, does he want us to design for monkeys? He obviously does not believe in web design as an art form because his formulas dont allow for much room to be different. Granted, there are some site that may need to follow his basic guidelines, but if all sites were as he wants them to be it would be sooooo boring. Dont you think archtects would be a little POed if they had to build everything in the shape of boxes just so people would recognize it?