August Blog Post: Choices
24 August 2009(Since I have no idea how I’m actually supposed to be doing this, I’m just going to take a shot in the dark.)
As a web designer, there are many choices that we have to make from day to day. These include colour schemes, website layouts, and use of coding. Everything we code, we must make a choice about, and those choices affect the users of our websites. Thus, the choices we make are very important, as they will affect the usability and overall function of our website, both technically and aesthetically.
The first choice we must make when designing is, “Who is this website for?” What is the target audience? Who do we want to look at the website, and be taken in by it? A website designed for grade-school girls is apt to be different than one designed for middle-aged men. Another way of looking at this question is, “What is the theme of this website?” A princess-themed website is apt to look different than a football-themed website (or so we might hope! ;D) and thus we must make decisions as to what will accomplish the intended effect. For instance, choosing pink and purple for the colour theme may help accomplish the effect of the footb– I mean, princess website. (I have too much fun with this.)
The next question should be applied to each element of our design – “What does it do? How well does it do it?” Each element should have an intended function, and should function optimally as such. This doesn’t just apply to making sure all of your links go to the right place, or that the login screen actually logs the user in. Visual elements have functions as well, and are used to communicate information and intention. And we, as web designers, must choose elements that will have the most functionality in our website. An image of a tiara may be used to influence the user’s overall feeling of being a quarte– princess. (Gotcha again! ;D) So each choice we make, whether it be colours, images, fonts, layouts, or text – they must be made with intent.
Who does this website appeal to? How about this one? If you said “football fans” and “princesses” (although not necessarily in that order!) then you would be right. In each, elements are used that, while in themselves may seem arbitrary, come together to form a cohesive image of the intended audience. Somewhere, a web designer had to make decisions about each element included in these websites, elements that would correctly relay the information about intended audience and content.
Another way to look at choices, however, does not sit solely with the designer. Some websites, such as WordPress, Twitter and MySpace, leave many choices in the hands of the user. How is this effective or, in some cases, not so effective. For instance, WordPress allows you many layout choices, but you can scarcely modify them, with the thought of keeping things uniform, error-free and neat. Twitter allows slightly more choice, giving users the option to choose colours and backgrounds, and even upload their own backgrounds. This allows mix-and-match, and gives an overall more customized feel. MySpace, on the other hand, leaves the designing entirely up to the user. How many times have you seen a MySpace page with bad coding, leading to the page looking sloppy or, worse, being inaccessible. In my case, the answer is, “far too many.” Some might view this as being an error of the designer of MySpace – there are too many choices, and many users do not understand them. With that in mind, the layouts often get messed up.
So what choices should users get? It depends on the application. Many forums offer the ability to change between skins, so that the user can choose the one that they like the best. They cannot, however, make their own. But can a user have too many choices even in this scenario? Sometimes, choices can be overwhelming. A designer is often smart to give fewer choices, and choose the best of the designs to offer, than to give many choices that will only cause confusion and difficulty for the user. How can they possibly know which of the hundreds of skins to use? That’s a very time-consuming and energy-consuming choice, and as designers, we wish to make our users have a more comfortable experience by using the most accessible designs and the most effective layout of information. Overwhelming a user, whether it be with skin choices or too-busy designs, is defeating to this purpose, and should be avoided.
So what’s all of this boil down to? Make your choices carefully. The world of web design has many, many tools that are just waiting to be used – use them well and use your common sense. Believe it or not, your gut does have your back, so trust it.
DISCLAIMER: For all of the football fans, I was not implying that you’re all closet-princesses. For all non-football fans, I actually was. ;D
Great blog! Those are great choices to consider and think about in the web design profession. I just love your sense of humor too! Great job!
Excellent choices there with the ““Who is this website for?” What is the target audience?”. When working on a client site this is the goal that people lose track of a lot – even my at my ripe young age of 4x . You have to be careful to keep your eye on the bigger picture always, and not fall in love with anything personally. As much as you love a design or tool it is not your site (Person A) … it is site you are creating for Person B to appeal to Crowd C for a certain goal.
What do you think – are there any ways to measure appeal in the web world?
I think it’s always personal – you just have to learn to make “personal” a variable. If I’m designing a website that targets children (think Nick Jr. or Disney) then I should be thinking like a five-year-old, not like a 19-year-old. What’s pretty/interesting/fun to a five-year-old? That’s what my goal should be. My final design should speak to the five-year-old in me. Whereas, if the target is professional adults, I should look at the design as, “What is going to make me feel like this website is legit and professional? What colours/themes/concepts are going to speak to me as a professional?” If the website is for high-school kids, I shouldn’t look at it any of those ways, but as, “As a high school kid, what do I want to see? What’s keeping my attention?” It’s not just about content, it’s about presentation, and it’s about presenting it so that the target really feels like the website was made JUST for them, with their needs and desires in mind. Every Disney website should feel like it was made just for the child who is looking at it, every cooking website should look cry out to the bottled-up chef in each of us. It’s really about going outside your comfort zone, going outside of YOURSELF, and taking on a role, becoming your target audience.
If you’ve ever seen the show Criminal Minds, where a lot of times Derek Morgan will be at a crime scene and he’ll walk himself through it, try to become the killer and try to see the scene from behind the eyes of the criminal, rather than from his own viewpoint.. it’s a lot like that. You have to walk through the website through the eyes of your target audience, see it the way they would see it, experience it the way they’ll experience it. Don’t be afraid to be a six-year-old girl who wants to be a princess, or a fifteen-year-old boy who is sick of the world because it’s freshman year and the seniors keep shutting him in lockers. Don’t be afraid to become your own audience, critique your own work from that standpoint. If you’re not sure, find a website with a similar target audience, find two, find ten of them, and walk through them like that, figure out what they did right, what they did wrong, and what you can make that will suit your target audience perfectly.
More that anything, it’s really like you said.. it’s not about YOU or what YOU love personally. But it is about pulling out different costumes, different masks, and deciding what suits your TARGET… and YOU can do that perfectly well, if you’re willing to be outside your comfort zone. Design is not for the faint of heart or the weak-willed, it’s not for people who are afraid to cross a line, test a boundary, metaphorically throw buckets of paint all over their design until they get something good. To be a good designer, you have to be more in tune, more extreme, more daring, than anyone else. You have to go where nobody else goes, try what nobody else has tried, fail a few times (because after all, you’re not failing, you’re finding all the ways that don’t work ;D) and keep on trying.
And as for me, the queen of TL;DR? I’m a fearless designer (although I do back up designs before I destroy them, ahaha!) who can be a six-year-old princess, a fifteen-year-old rebel, or a 45-year-old professional… and more!
That’s how you measure appeal – does it appeal to your target audience? When you step into those shoes, does it tickle your fancy? If it does, well done. If not, you can always try, try again!