{"id":355,"date":"2010-03-12T14:16:32","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T20:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.techory.com\/blog\/beauty-in-web-design\/"},"modified":"2010-03-19T10:14:57","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T16:14:57","slug":"beauty-in-web-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/?p=355","title":{"rendered":"Beauty in Web Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, March 12, 2010
\nPresenters:\u2028Cennydd Bowles<\/a> \u2013 Clearleft Ltd<\/a><\/p>\n

Description:
\nCennydd Bowles leapt into the world of user experience eight years ago and hasn\u2019t shut up about it since. He now works for Clearleft by day and moonlights as a UX blogger, mentor and community evangelist. Cennydd is a regular public speaker (IA Summit, Design By Fire, EuroIA), a widely-published writer (A List Apart, Johnny Holland, .net magazine) and co-founder of the UX London conference. He is currently writing his first user experience book with fellow Clearleftie James Box, to be published in September 2010.<\/p>\n

The underachieving web.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re underachieving on the web. A blog post: Landmark Web Sites, Where Art Thou? Where are all the web masterpieces? The web has shaped generations, but the sum is greater than the parts. Look at popular sites (google, facebook, etc), they\u2019re great successes, but not great, not truly beautiful site.<\/p>\n

Automotive design brings beauty, emotion, passion. Guitars at the same way. Architecture also has this. Information design, graphic design (fedex logo) also have beauty and passion.<\/p>\n

What is the point of beauty? It effects us in profound ways \u2013 the emotional aspect. We react better to beauty. Beauty makes things easier to use (not think it\u2019s easier to use), it actually makes it easier. Our brains respond better to aesthetically pleasing objects. Apple really understands it. Look at the original imac, and how it brought beauty to computers that was never there before. Beauty gives us positive emotions and helps us use things. It\u2019s why we put art on walls. The most powerful aspect of beauty is that it can change our world.<\/p>\n

What is the power of beauty in our web word?<\/p>\n

Beauty Evolves.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look at the evolution of art. The renaissance is a gateway to beauty in things \u2013 things mankind can create.<\/p>\n

Websites aren\u2019t tangible \u2013 they\u2019re just data. They change all the time. They\u2019re replicated thousands of times. It could be said to be different for every user (what browser, OS, screen res?).<\/p>\n

Three types of beauty.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Universal \u2013 crosses all cultures \u2013 symetric.<\/p>\n

Social-cultural \u2013 using standards of a particular time or particular place.<\/p>\n

Subjective \u2013 personal encapsulation of beauty. Your personal likes and dislikes.<\/p>\n

Three modes of design.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Visceral design \u2013 entirely sensory, we feel positive to something. It\u2019s attraction. To design for visceral response, we need to design for shape and color. On the web, visceral is entirely visual. It rewards attraction over usability.<\/li>\n
  2. Behavioural \u2013 It\u2019s about use. Does this thing in front of me work? Does it sustain flow, and work in the way I expect? Make sure your design has proper dimensions, and sends clear messages about its functions. Jacob Nielson\u2019s work is based on this area. It\u2019s all about what a user wants to achieve. Usability can make sites usable and profitable, but not always beautiful.<\/li>\n
  3. Reflective \u2013 does this design fit in as I am as a person? Does this fit my life? What does the brand stand for? Successful reflective design makes us feel good, and changes the way we think about things. This isn\u2019t just usability, but true user experience design.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Make the web beautiful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The medium is still pretty young, and changing very quickly. New behavioral approaches are coming into play.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Get emotional \u2013 claiming a website is easy to use it like claiming your restaurant servers food you can eat. We need to tell a story.<\/li>\n
    2. Think bigger \u2013 User and the business are the typical sites. Are we truly trying to make a difference in things, or just making what\u00a0 client asks for?<\/li>\n
    3. Lead \u2013 a strong individual needs to be there. “When was the last time you saw a statue of a committee? Too many cooks do spoil the broth.<\/li>\n
    4. Think long term \u2013 keep people excited about the designs we make. Spice things up, and bring unexpected joy \u2013 vary things to keep it interesting. Add a surprise.<\/li>\n
    5. Broaden horizons \u2013 find those life changes things \u2013 notice the world around you. Expand your horizons, look outside your comfort area.<\/li>\n
    6. Be brave \u2013 start making statements. Stand for something and convey our ideas through our work. Where are the schools of thought for web design, philosophic approaches in web design.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Caveat: sometime this is hard when you need to get a job done. Reflective shouldn\u2019t be dogma \u2013 should be used appropriately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Friday, March 12, 2010 Presenters:\u2028Cennydd Bowles \u2013 Clearleft Ltd Description: Cennydd Bowles leapt into the world of user experience eight years ago and hasn\u2019t shut up about it since. He now works for Clearleft by day and moonlights as a UX blogger, mentor and community evangelist. Cennydd is a regular public speaker (IA Summit, Design […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techory.com\/sxsw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}