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Home » Design for the Stupid
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Design for the Stupid** SiteBuilderNews - 4/25/2002 Issue ** Helping You Build A Better Website ================================================================= In This Issue of SiteBuilderNews: => 1. Editor's Note => 2. Article: Design for the Stupid => 3. Site Builder Tip => 4. Sites for Site Builders => 5. Site Builder News ================================================================= SPONSOR AD: ================================================================= Your-Site: Superior, Affordable Web Hosting! * 50 MB Disk Space * 25 POP3 E-Mail Accounts * 6 Gigs Transfer * Your own cgi-bin * 24/7 FTP Access * 99.9% Guaranteed Uptime * Plus Much More! ONLY $5 PER MONTH! http://www.sitebuildernews.com/yoursite.php ================================================================= 1. Editor's Note ================================================================= Hello SiteBuilders, Gerry McGovern has a simple message: people can be stupid, and designers who don't realize this are just as stupid. Read on for the rest of his advice. -- Dan Grossman edi-@sitebuildernews.com ================================================================= ================================================================= Upgrade to receive HTML version of SiteBuilderNews! Subscribe for free at mailto:sitebuildernews-@topica.com ================================================================= 2. Feature Article: ================================================================= Design for the Stupid by Gerry McGovern The days of the Web as a frontier for pioneers are over. In a growing number of countries, the Web reflects society at large. eBay, AOL, and Yahoo! have long had sites that are simple and easy to use. Web design needs to focus on ordinary people who are relatively unfamiliar with the Internet. Simplicity is the number one characteristic of site design that works. Customer: "I'd like to buy the Internet. Do you know how much it is?" Customer: "How much does it cost to have the Internet installed?" Customer: "Can you copy the Internet for me on this diskette?" Customer: "I would like an Internet, please." Customer: "I just got your Internet in the mail today..." Customer: "I just downloaded the Internet. How do I use it?" Customer: "I don't have a computer at home. Is the Internet available in book form?" Customer: "Will the Internet be open on Memorial Day tomorrow?" Customer: "Are you sure that the Internet isn't closed for the night?" These are all supposedly real quotes from real people, taken from a Web site called Computer Stupidities. If you think the people who said these things are really stupid, then you shouldn't be designing Web sites. "Indeed, from Titanic to Chernobyl -- and in 9 out of 10 accidents in the air and on the road -- human error has accounted for vastly more fatalities than malfunctioning parts or sabotage," The Economist wrote in March. When it comes to our tools, we make stupid mistakes all the time. Good design takes this into account and seeks to minimize the mistakes we might make. People can't spell. Google recently published a very long list of the misspellings of Britney Spears's name. You'd be amazed at the amount of ways one name can be misspelled (or mistyped). Did Google sit back and laugh? No. It implemented a function that, if it thinks you have misspelled something, suggests the correct spelling. That's good design. Repeatedly, I receive email from designers who tell me my thinking on Web design is so 1996. They inform me that in 2002, people are much more educated and demand innovation and excitement. The reality is that there is a much greater need for simple Web design today than there was in 1996. Back then, we had pioneers and early adopters who tended to hunger for the new and exciting. Today, the vast majority of people on the Web do not see themselves as pioneers. They see the Web as a utility they can use to pay their phone bills or check out holiday offers. According to Nielsen//NetRatings's analysis of Internet access during January 2002, of the 172.8 million Americans with Internet access 55.5 million did not go online at all that month. Cars have been around a lot longer than the Internet. Cars are vastly easier to use than computers. Yet people still make all sorts of driving mistakes. When it comes to the Internet, even intelligent people will do the most amazingly stupid things. We need to stop pushing the envelope and cease living on the cutting edge. People make stupid mistakes all the time. What's really stupid and truly, breathtakingly moronic is designers who don't recognize this fact. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gerry McGovern is a Web consultant and author. His most recent books are Content Critical and The Web Content Style Guide, published by Financial Times Prentice Hall. His personal Web site is at http://www.gerrymcgovern.com ================================================================= Reach thousands of subscribers! For ad details and prices, email: mailto:edi-@sitebuildernews.com?subject=ad_inquiry ================================================================= 3. Site Builder Tip ================================================================= This Week's Tip: GifOptimize Please When deciding what to write about, many items came to mind, but none as often (or persistent) as the need for fast loading web pages as it relates to the graphics in your web site. How many times have you gone to a web site, only to find that you had time to go get a cup of coffee while you waited for the page to load? You probably only waited because you desperately wanted or needed something at that site. Otherwise - you would have surfed on to another site. Let me suggest something, my friend - always "gif-optimize" your graphics prior to posting them. My favorite online tool for this is located at http://www.gifoptimizer.com. You may optimize a gif off your desktop or after you have uploaded it. The instructions are simple and clear. An example of a Graphics Company with a reasonably fast loading page is Corel at http://www.designer.com. I would love to provide you with a not-so-good example, but I would rather not insult anyone. I think you get the "picture." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Deborah Anderson, of AndersonCreations.com, teaches web design and internet marketing in addition to publishing Webmaster Tips Weekly. Subscribe free by sending a blank email to mailto:subsc-@webmaster-tips-weekly.com http://webmaster-tips-weekly.com/webtips ================================================================= 4. Sites for Site Builders ================================================================= Computer Stupidities This site is the home to pages and pages of hilarious computer- related quotes. If you're in need of some humor during your work day, read a few pages of Computer Stupidities and see just how computer-illiterate people were during the '90s. Check it out at... http://rinkworks.com/stupid/ ================================================================= 5. Site Builder News ================================================================= Poor security leaves Web sites open to hack attacks http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36819038&e=6592 Megaknight Technologies: The special host for special people http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36788785&e=6592 Website turns tax buster http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36755613&e=6592 IBM releases new Web Service tools http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36729392&e=6592 Web Hosting on Auto Pilot http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36644657&e=6592 Web Hosting Radio Brings Top Hosting Company CEOs to Your Home http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36644564&e=6592 Web Hosting News: Interland Named 'Rising Star' http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e36603463&e=6592 ================================================================= ================================================================= Do you know someone who has a website or would like to create one? Forward them a copy of this eZine and urge them to subscribe! To subscribe send a blank email to: mailto:sitebuilderne-@topica.com ================================================================= ================================================================= Send suggestions and comments to: edi-@SiteBuilderNews.com Reach thousands of subscribers! For ad details and prices, visit our media kit at http://www.sitebuildernews.com/advertise.php SiteBuilderNews is © 2000-2001 Dan Grossman. All Rights Reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission. All guest articles are copyright their respective owners and are reproduced with permission. |
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