Web design is a craft that is constantly evolving and yet also sometimes sabotaged. The moment a design is released, a new version is born. In the beginning, like a baby, it seems vulnerable and weak, but in time it grows up and becomes self-sufficient. Redesigning a website for its own sake doesn’t prove anything; quite the contrary, it reveals a lack of effectiveness on the part of the designer. Product design is a craft in which new versions come to life with increasing difficulty. We can learn a thing or two from it when designing for the Web. First, let’s look at some examples. How many designs for the iPhone has Apple released since 2007? The answer is one, with only two tweaks. How many Motorola phones for Android … Continue reading →

For design to be meaningful we need to tell stories. We need to design the invisible, the cues, the messages and the extra detail hidden beneath the aesthetics. It’s all about the story. From verbal exchanges around the campfire to books, the web and everything in between, storytelling allows us to share, organize and process information more efficiently. It helps us understand our surroundings and make emotional connections to people, places and experiences. Web design lends itself perfectly to the conventions of storytelling, a universal process. However, the stories vary because they’re defined by culture, society, politics and religion. All of which need considering if you are to design stories that are relevant to your target audience.

Point, click. The gestures and metaphors of icon-driven computing feel so natural and effortless to us now, it seems strange to recall navigating in the digital world any other way. Until Apple’s debut of the Macintosh in 1984, however, mostof our interactions with computers looked more like this: How did we get from there to here? Read more By Steve Silberman for PLoS Blogs 22 Nov 2011.

“Humour is the politeness of despair”, an approximate, Google-ish translation of “l’humour est la politesse du désespoir”, a saying attributed to noted post-WW2 Left Bank jazzman, writer, and engineer, Boris Vian, So, let’s start with the reverent, despairing humour of Chris Calloway in Wired magazine’s memorial to Steve Jobs: “Heaven got a major upgrade today…” Yes, I can see the dear leader in his new abode. Having climbed his last mountain, he summons Saint Peter and utters the words that he has heard throughout his life: “You’re doing it all wrong.” “Look at the name above the door, the typeface sucks, the kerning is off. The furniture is out of style – get something cleaner, fresher. And the stairs … We need something airier … I don’t know, glass? Come … Continue reading →