Don,
I agree with most of what you said but of course I have to quibble (at your invitation.)
On Oct 30, 2011, at 11:34 AM, Don Norman wrote:
> Experienced web designers: either stop reading now, or read it and
> send in corrections or enhancements.
I'd describe myself as a minimally experienced web designer but very far from a specialist (and fairly pathetic as a web developer.)
> Let me try to explain some of those challenges.
[snip lots of good stuff about display variability]
> You do not know what fonts are available.
Server-based fonts look like they might save us if only we can get past minor technical and major economic arguments. At some point, however, control freak graphic designers like me do have to get over the notion of dictating form in certain instances. One small example of the advantages of user controlled display is that old guys like me can have larger type and cranky old guys like Don can have even larger type yet. Even as we gain some needed control, we have to remember to relinquish much of it.
> It is all very nice to say that websites should be evaluated by
> printing them out,
Did someone suggest that?
> Touch sensitive screens: suddenly the rule for targets -- the things
> you click - change. Fingers are not a precise as a mouse pointer or a
> stylus. So the screen design has to accommodate the fact that any
> display might now be controlled by touch.
[insert better Fitt's Law/throwing a fit joke than I can think of now.]
> Getting legible type -- form size, contrast, and line length -- is a
> real challenge. But it can be done. Designers have some control, but
> the design must figure out the size of the browser, the brand and
> release of the browser and OS, and even the screen resolution and size
> and display accordingly. Lots of conditional statement.
>
> Yes, a lot of this is automated. But when you see the results of the
> automated systems you will cringe even more.
One problem is that manufacturers of hardware and software set defaults and assume that users are, like them, computer weenies who will find out how to reset things to their needs. Needless to say, the assumption is unwarranted. Finding more humane ways to automate availability of choices is needed.
> Designing modern products is not a craft skill It is a complex mix of
> disciplines each with its own powers and constraints. Often these
> constrains are incompatible, which is why the teams have to be
> co-located -- so they can work out a decent result.
But craft skills (in various senses of the phrase) can support the need for real human responses throughout any design process. Rapid prototyping on various levels is vital. (The problem of inexperienced print designers making too-big type based on on-screen viewing of what will be a print document that Beth Koch and I were talking about is one example, not that hitting command-p more often is a craft skill.)
> Design for just one phone: whichever is
> your customer base.
Advice that is hard to follow in many cases; if many and various people could depend on/benefit from information, putting it in silos isn't a viable solution. But what Don said is correct: Websites are not like paper displays. It's probably a mistake to think that websites are like websites, however.
Gunnar
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