(Note: I also sent this post to the AIGA Experience Design list, as a
similar type of discussion arose there.)


My article, Information architecture versus graphic design, certainly has
got some debate going:
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2001/nt_2001_12_17_design.htm

I have read all the posts and accept that many graphic designers felt that
my piece was insulting, small-minded and created a false opposition between
information architecture and graphic design. I didn't deliberately set out
to insult, and I apologize if that's the way it came across. In retrospect,
the title did set up a false opposition.

However, I stand over everything else I said in the piece. A central point
I was making was that graphic design has a minor (but -- yes -- important)
role to play in web design. Web designers, in my opinion, require
information architecture skills. What is information architecture?
Information architecture deals with the organization of content.
Information architecture covers metadata, classification, navigation,
search, layout and graphic design. Information architecture has two
principle objectives:
1. To help people quickly find the content they need
2. To present this content in a readable format

In my opinion, the fundamental activity that occurs on the Web is reading.
(Just as you are now reading this.) Why is the majority of the text on the
Web black on a white background? (Like the text you are now reading.)
Because it's easier to read. Why is this discussion on design text-based?
Because the discussion is happening on the Web. Of all the posts I have
read, I have not seen a single image. That's primarily because of low
bandwidth. But that's the reality of the Web today.

I am not against design; no way. I am for design that is appropriate to the
medium in question. Nike and Benetton understand design. However, Nike and
Benetton were making quality runners and long-lasting sweaters back in the
Sixties. Before they added swirls and color they got the basics right.

The basics on the Web are about getting the right content to the right
person at the right time. Here's two examples of what I think are great web
design: Amazon 1-Click purchase (http://www.amazon.com/) and the Google
search process (http://www.google.com). Here's two examples of what I think
are awful web design: the Absolut website (http://www.absolut.com/), and
the Virgin Atlantic website, where you will find red text on a red
background (http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/)

Yahoo may have lost some of its luster, but when it launched back in circa
1995, it was the ultimate in cool. And what is Yahoo? It's a directory.
It's a library. What's at the heart of a library/directory? Classification.
The most successful website -- AOL, Ebay, Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Amazon,
are built on professional classification. (A principle reason Amazon chose
books as its entry product was because there was already a comprehensive,
digital directory of books in print.)

The Web is a functional place. We go there to find out stuff, to do stuff.
Elegance in web design is about giving us a positive experience as we
search for that article, book that ticket. This is where metadata,
classification, navigation and search come in. Search is an activity we do
everyday on the Web. Yet most search processes are designed appallingly.

Quality navigation design is critical on a website. Navigation is like a
signpost or traffic lights system. It's what you turn to when you want to
get somewhere. Yet so much navigation is designed like it was a neon sign,
flashing and throbbing; trying to grab attention. Navigation should be
consistent, staid and boring. (After all, nobody argues that people are
bored with red, amber and green for traffic lights.)

There are 600 billion plus documents on the Web. And we are starved for
bandwidth and time. Designing content templates so that they collect the
correct metadata that will allow this content to be quickly found by the
person who really needs it; this is great web design. Creating and laying
out the content with short, descriptive headings, short paragraphs and pull
quotes, so that it can be easily read; this is great web design.

Best

Gerry McGovern


PS: I have recently published a book entitled The Web Content Style Guide.
In it I have a long piece called Designing for the Web. I have placed this
piece online at:
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/guide_design_1.htm