Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2009 > March > 13 > Entry
Panel: Everything You Know About Web Design Is Wrong
Date/Time: 2 p.m. Friday
Panelists: Dan Willis, consultant
The gist: Even after more than a decade of use and innovation, Web design is still in its infancy and largely informed based on print design instead of using the Internet’s full capabilities to create rich experiences for every user. Willis calls this malady “print in disguise,” pointing to flashy but ill-intended sites for Harry Potter films and Washington Post local sections as examples.
Willis compared current Web design practices to the beginning days of motion pictures, when fixed position cameras filmed scenes on a stage, resulting in flat, shallow productions instead of utilizing techniques such as cross cutting, closeups and birds-eye-view camera angles to add greater impact. It’s hard to know what the analogous practices will be for Web design, but Willis said he thinks offering insight into people’s lives, making content more self-aware and interconnected and enabling more control of data and content by users are some of the mile markers on the road ahead.
And the days are done when design is a last step in business cycle that serves primarily a marketing/arty function. Instead, Willis said designers must be included in the conceptual phase of a Web site to ensure that at its core it gives users the richest experience possible.
Quotes: “In the 21st century content is not about chunks of type, pictures and video because the experience a user has is the content. The user designs their experience as much as the designers do, so put the elements in place and let them do their thing themselves.” — Dan Willis.
Takeaways: Ease of use and flashy visuals are taking a back seat to Web sites that offer pieces of real life interaction, such as a hotel site with online cameras in common areas and an online concierge chatting with prospective customers before they even make a reservation. Added together, those ingredients create a rich jambalaya that users remember.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW 2009
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.