The web is for doing

Duncan Stephen
Thursday 4 September 2014

Print is view, web is do

Organisations can sometimes forget that users normally come to a website to do something. The temptation is sometimes to cover the website with glossy images or screeds of happy talk. But this all gets in the way of what the user is trying to do.

If the only thing we wanted from the Web were pictures to look at and text to read then we wouldn’t need it. We already have technology in the form of print that allows us to present images and text in a far more beautiful and readable manner. For years we have accepted low resolution screens because we got something more from the Web than we got from print. Today, we squint at small screens on our smartphones when we could be looking at a big, glossy magazine. Why is that? What keeps us coming back to the Web? Doability.

I didn’t think I’d have to be making arguments about print versus Web in 2014 but print culture is so deeply embedded in our culture that the influence of visual / graphical design thinking is still clearly present in many webpage designs…

Much web design exhibits a yearning for past glories when brands were magnificent, customers were loyal and organizations were in control. An age where customers followed wherever brands lead. An age where politicians were trusted, religious leaders were revered and CEOs were superstars. That age is history.

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