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Subject:RE: When Programmers Design Web Pages ... From:"Thomas Eagles" <tekwriter -at- sympatico -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 29 Mar 2002 22:51:51 -0500
David Castro responded to the original post:
> > During my midterm today, we were given a few
> > web sites from which to select one and
> > critique it in terms of navigation, typography,
> > etc. I picked this one:
> >
> > http://www.artcenter.edu
> >
> > I was not kind.
>
> I actually thought that the design/layout/navigation were
> perfectly appropriate for the audience. If this was a web
> site that documented an API, I think it would totally tick
> off the readers.
Agreed. Writing help for APIs should require one to be as concise as
possible. No frills, no cleverness, no extras; just the required
information in a simple, clear format.
> But the readers of this site are artists,
> and so they're going to want to see a web site that reflects that.
>
> I found the navigation a bit helter-skelter, but it was easy
> to find, which is nice. I also was impressed that they were
> able to do all that they did in such a small window. This
> enables everyone to use the site...even people using WebTV.
>
> Remember one of the TW mantras: "Know your audience."
I'll take it another step further: I like the site. I think it is
appropriate to its audience, is clever (Too clever? Maybe), and unlike
any Web site I've seen.
If I was artsy fartsy, I might consider this intriguing. I didn't like
the size of the window (they should have made it larger) but I found the
site usable, funky, and thought-provoking. I see no reason to skewer the
people who designed it.
Or maybe I'm just not as intelligent as the others who think the site
sucks. Who knows...
To those who think the site sucks, I ask: why? What would you do
differently? What cardinal rules did they break? What are the obviously
sucky things I'm missing in my review of the site?
BACHELOR: A man who never makes the same mistake once.
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