|
Dear Gunnar,
The first thing to be said about Gerry McGovern's column,
"Information architecture versus graphic design," is that he IS
advocating design. He is explaining why the Web requires design based
on information architecture rather than the forms of graphic design
suited to print media.
He is not opposed to graphic design. Rather, he argues that graphic
design on the Web must be informed by specific principles that adapt
graphic design to reader and user needs.
The case is as simple as that.
McGovern writes, "Much web design has suffered from an over reliance
on graphic design principles. Too many graphic designers have tried
to force the Web to be what it is not, in the process creating
ineffective and sometimes unusable websites. Quality web design is
driven by information architecture design principles. Graphic design
should support these principles."
McGovern makes clear distinctions. He is not attacking graphic design
or graphic designers: he is attacking the common misuse of graphic
design in Web sites.
I respect McGovern's views. His opinions are informed by a wealth of
empirical research. He has studied thousands of Web sites,
identifying common patterns, and problems. Many other researchers
have identified the same problems. The main difference between Gerry
McGovern and the rest is that his newsletters, columns, and books
make him highly visible.
Before going further, I want to clear up an important question.
McGovern is arguing for a usable Web. Nothing will make him happier
than a Web that is better designed and more workable than today. To
suggest McGovern is "opportunistically attacking design for the
promotion of his planning business" simply is not so. If it were, he
would not give away free subscriptions to his newsletter and free
information on his Web site.
Any Web designer now working can learn to apply McGovern's
principles. He certainly hopes to sell copies of his book, but it is
simply impossible to imagine he is espousing these principles to land
work.
Just do a quick analysis of the numbers. How many Web sites are
there? How many MAJOR Web sites are there? How long does it take to
plan and work with a major Web site? How many consultancies can any
designer or design firm handle in any given year?
There is so much Web design to be done that McGovern cannot hope to
handle more than a fraction of the projects that he already attracts.
Whether you agree with his thinking or not, it is simply a mistake to
believe that McGovern is attempting to take work away from graphic
design firms.
McGovern's point is that graphic design firms that undertake Web
sites should master the basic principles of information architecture
design.
Graphic design firms that offer Web design in their portfolio are
responsible for a huge number of unworkable sites. These sites
typically combine fancy graphic techniques with current high tech
whirligigs. Typically, these sites are not tested, or they are tested
under unrealistic conditions. I have experienced many of the same
problems that McGovern observes in this column and in the book he
wrote with Rob Norton. These constitute a majority of the
professionally designed sites on the Web today.
An even larger number of Web sites are probably designed by amateurs
or by in-house designers using Web design packages. These, too, will
benefit from McGovern's principles.
Gerry McGovern is not arguing against design. He is arguing FOR DESIGN.
He builds a convincing case for a specific series of issues and
approaches. These are based on empirical research. McGovern makes a
convincing case in his own books and columns, and so I will not
rehearse the entire series of arguments.
Many graphic designers even agree with five or six of McGovern's
seven points. You may not like his style of argument. Review his
article on content. I have copied it below. My guess is you will
agree with five or possibly six of his main points.
There are two issues to be considered here.
The first issue, as you have noted before, is that there are
exceptions to McGovern's principles. I agree. Of the several hundred
million Web sites now available, at least a few thousand, perhaps a
hundred thousand or so, can and should violate any one of McGovern's
principles.
A Web site that serves a high-speed science network with
computation-intensive graphic imagery appropriately uses techniques
that are inappropriate on a public site.
A Web site that is primarily accessed via a university-based intranet
can afford liberties that a Web site serving general users cannot.
A Web site aimed at the small number of broadband accessible users is
welcome to the heavy graphic techniques that kill the user experience
for the majority of Internet users who still access the Web using a
copper-wire modem. (I am one of those.)
A Web site that is not intended for use beyond a limited circle of
members does not need meta-data.
I can name dozens of exceptions, and so can you. Point by point, I
can go through Gerry McGovern's book and name an exception to each of
his principles. But these are EXCEPTIONS: McGovern's principles
constitute general good sense for the vast majority of unexceptional
cases where a Web site is intended to deliver the right information
to the right person at the right time.
The second issue is professional pride in a particular branch of
design. Let us forget for just a moment that you are a graphic
designer.
Let us just think as designers whose job it is to build a better Web.
You are a designer. I am a designer. McGovern is a designer.
Consider McGovern's principles as distinct from his person, his
business, his book, and his style of argument.
Does what McGovern says about what does and doesn't work on the Web make sense?
In the vast majority of cases, I think it does.
These last two points are important. First, we need more working Web
sites that work well. Second, we need to focus on Web design, and not
on graphic design.
On that first point, hundreds of millions of unworkable Web sites can
be made to work better. I would like a Web where the majority of Web
sites work. (Incidentally, a better and mow workable Web will also be
a more efficient Web: better transaction times will reduce over-all
congestion. McGovern is doing professional design firms and their
clients a service by demonstrating how to reduce congestion and free
up valuable bandwidth.)
On the second point, I admire anyone who builds a great Web site. I
do not care who they are or what professional name they use.
Economics professors design three of my favorite Web sites. I can
find what I need, and use their sites effectively. Another seems to
be an in-house job advised by professional graphic designers who
specialize in information design rather than technical spectacle. The
site is simple, clear, and informative. It is colorful and
graphically rich yet so simple that it downloads like a dream.
I do not care who designs the Web site. I want the Web site to work for me.
Let us forget that Gerry McGovern said something that irked you as a
graphic designer.
More accurately, let us forget that you may have interpreted McGovern
as an opponent of graphic design.
Gerry McGovern supports INFORMED graphic design.
His proposals will make a more workable Web.
Best regards,
Ken
McGovern's Column:
-snip-
December 17, 2001
Information architecture versus graphic design
By Gerry McGovern
Much web design has suffered from an over reliance on graphic design
principles. Too many graphic designers have tried to force the Web to
be what it is not, in the process creating ineffective and sometimes
unusable websites. Quality web design is driven by information
architecture design principles. Graphic design should support these
principles.
The Web requires an information architecture design rather than a
graphic design approach because:
* The Web is a literate rather than a visual medium. That is to say
that words, and not images, are the building blocks for the vast
majority of websites. Commercial graphic design focuses on grabbing
the consumer's attention through the use of strong visual images, and
short emotive phrases. Graphic design is concerned with how a page
looks. information architecture design is concerned with how a page
reads.
* The Web is an active rather than a passive medium. We are
constantly making decisions such as to search for a particular term,
to click on a particular link, etc. information architecture design
is concerned with supporting such decisions through search and
navigation processes.
* The Web is a visually constrained environment. Computer screen size
and resolution, combined with download issues, mean that visual
experiences are poor on the Web. Certainly, in comparison to a glossy
magazine or a large TV screen, the Web cannot compete from a visual
communication point of view.
* The Web is accessed through computers. By their very nature
computers are functional, work-oriented tools. You sit upright, close
to a screen. Most people buy computers for two principal reasons.
Firstly, to work. Secondly, to educate themselves or their children.
* The Web is a time sensitive environment. There is one word to
describe the average person who uses the Web: impatient. People don't
like being kept waiting on the Web.
* The very architecture of the Web is about linking pieces of
content. Effective web design is about organizing and classifying
content so that it can be easily found and read, listened to or
viewed.
* AOL, Ebay, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, CNN, Google, Yahoo, Amazon,
Napster and Cisco, are just some examples of organizations that take
an information rather than graphic design approach to web design.
In response to my last column, many people were upset that I should
describe the Web as a library. But it is a library. It's a library of
books, ideas, music, art, cars, houses, government legislation,
technology news, computer software and hardware. Unfortunately, the
Web is a library that very often has the books on the floor and the
lights turned out. information architecture design is about turning
the lights on and putting the 'books' in their proper place.
I'd like to finish with a quote. It's from one of the most extensive
surveys of public opinion on the Internet, which was published by the
Markle Foundation in the summer of 2001:
"By far the leading metaphor for the Internet in the public's mind is
not 'a shopping mall' or 'banking and investment office,' but rather
'a library.' Despite the popular depiction of the Internet as a
channel for commerce, the public mostly views it as a source of
information, and these uses appear to explain its popularity much
more than its utility as a way to shop, bank, or invest."
Let's give the public what they want.
Gerry McGovern
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2001/nt_2001_12_17_design.htm
-snip-
Gunnar's query:
-snip-
Ken,
You've promoted Gerry McGovern's writing here in the past. I'm
curious what you think of his recent declarations condemning "graphic
design principles."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2001/nt_2001_12_17_design.htm
Is he painfully inarticulate or unable to make distinctions, unaware
of any but the narrowest image of graphic design and graphic
designers, or opportunistically attacking design for the promotion of
his planning business?
Gunnar
--
Gunnar Swanson Design Office
536 South Catalina Street
Ventura CA 93001-3625
USA
+1 805 667 2200
[log in to unmask]
http://www.gunnarswanson.com
-snip-
--
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Technology and Knowledge Management
Norwegian School of Management
Visiting Professor
Advanced Research Institute
School of Art and Design
Staffordshire University
|
