Monday, February 20, 2006
Resisting the urge to 'puke' all over the page: less is more in information design.
One of the most encouraging trends emerging in web design is the sparing visual design that distills the content of a page to its core essentials, ie. the 'google' style of web design. Rather than trying to cram everything onto the main page and overloading users with information, a new breed of sites is hiding the chaff from their audiences.
We don't need to address google, with its spartan layout that is essentially text-only. Big fonts and less text is one of the hallmarks of so-called Web 2.0 design. We see these sites provide us with less 'noise' and more relevant content, but without sacrificing any depth or usability.
Meanwhile, traditional media outlets just don't seem to get it. Visit any of their sites and the barrage of headlines and ads and features will overwhelm your senses. CNN recently cleaned up their on-air presentation, opting for a minimal graphic layout - their website hasn't reflected that change yet.
The Globe and Mail recently redesigned their website, leaving behind its aging, but functional, left-column navigation in favour of the 'vomit' method of web design: spew forth all possible information onto the main page interspersed with ads and let the users figure out what's what.
After living in world on information overload for some time now, it's disappointing to see that our major media outlets have yet to 'get it' - they struggle to deal with a system in which news comes in fast and furious and as a result, they're unsure of what to present as important, so they show it all.
Resisting the urge to display a vast multitude of information can be hard to resist, and they obviously feel that more really is more, but in an age where that information is readily available from any number of sources, their value lies not in how much information they present, or even what they present, but rather how they present it.
Many media outlets, and web designers in general, should take a page out of the emerging design trends in Web 2.0. These sites have a mature understanding of how to organize information and distill the quality content for their users. As time progresses, we may even see those sites that can offer the best filters rather than the most information become the media outlets of choice.
We don't need to address google, with its spartan layout that is essentially text-only. Big fonts and less text is one of the hallmarks of so-called Web 2.0 design. We see these sites provide us with less 'noise' and more relevant content, but without sacrificing any depth or usability.
Meanwhile, traditional media outlets just don't seem to get it. Visit any of their sites and the barrage of headlines and ads and features will overwhelm your senses. CNN recently cleaned up their on-air presentation, opting for a minimal graphic layout - their website hasn't reflected that change yet.
The Globe and Mail recently redesigned their website, leaving behind its aging, but functional, left-column navigation in favour of the 'vomit' method of web design: spew forth all possible information onto the main page interspersed with ads and let the users figure out what's what.
After living in world on information overload for some time now, it's disappointing to see that our major media outlets have yet to 'get it' - they struggle to deal with a system in which news comes in fast and furious and as a result, they're unsure of what to present as important, so they show it all.
Resisting the urge to display a vast multitude of information can be hard to resist, and they obviously feel that more really is more, but in an age where that information is readily available from any number of sources, their value lies not in how much information they present, or even what they present, but rather how they present it.
Many media outlets, and web designers in general, should take a page out of the emerging design trends in Web 2.0. These sites have a mature understanding of how to organize information and distill the quality content for their users. As time progresses, we may even see those sites that can offer the best filters rather than the most information become the media outlets of choice.
posted by Pete, 11:08 AM
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