Digital lifestyle at the intersection of attention, beauty, productivity, and social web
An easy target, of course, but in a recent blog post Hank Williams takes on Jakob Nielsen ("UI Guru Jakob Nielsen's Site Is Unreadable"): "Unfortunately, I have to say, Jakob has perhaps the worst site design I have ever seen. It is as if, while he is handing out the Oscars, he is wearing a plaid polyester suit. In truth his site is fine from an information architecture perspective. But from an aesthetics perspective it is awful. And aesthetics is important in UI. If you begin to look at something and want to avert your eyes, the site has failed."
Hat tip to Web Guild
http://designmind.frogdesign.com/trackback/779
here here
David Card - August 24, 2008
I am a huge fan of Jakob N, and I cherish his volumes regarding web site usability. He has made a huge impact on both my design sense and how I perceive the web.
And, yes, his site is possibly the worst example of web design ever. It would not even be acceptable in 1994. Jakob, wake up and smell the Folgers! Aesthetics is a crucial part of good UI. We all have heard that time -tested adage that "Less is more" and nothing could be more true, however, I learned a very important footnote to that many years ago from a senior CD, who told me "the fewer elements you have on a page, the more critical it is that they are designed and placed perfectly"
Props to someone pointing out that the emperor is wearing clothes, but he borrowed them from Rod Roddy.
Yours,
David Card // c42d.com
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