December 11, 2003 | View Comments (12) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: How the web could be a better place.
The web could be a better place. It could be a place where people actually think about what they are doing before they begin to do it. It could be a place where the designers realize that they are not only esponsible for a site looks, but also how it functions. It is easy to say that you are not an information architect or an usability expert, but what happens when you show a lack of common sense in your designs? What is your excuse then?
I am not going to get into the title game of saying that some of us should be called "this" instead of designers. But just to let you know from now on I am going to tell people who ask me what I do that I am a web architect. To have the power and ability to say something like that however requires that I actually think about what I am doing. It requires that I actually think about who is going to use my sites and understand that it isn't just me. I need to think that people do not see the world the way I do, but that we do share a common vision.
If you have a personal site where you expect people to come and view then maybe you have to get out of the "It's my site, I don't care how it works" mentality. Bad habits will carry over to other designs. Trust me. A website is always a website no matter if it is for you or for the world. When designing something and you really care that others look at your work, then it would help if you showed your users that you care about what you are presenting.
Almost everyone starts a blog and whether they wish to admit it or not they want lots of people to go there. I really didn't start this just because I wanted to write some things and post it so I could come back to read it later. I thought I had some good things to share and so that is what I do, I share them. The web is about sharing (not sharing of designs mind you). The web needs to be explored a little more because we aren't even at the tip of the iceberg. We are more like in a helicopter looking down on the iceberg from 10,000 feet above.
Shirky wrote a nice little piece on the Semantic Web not too long ago and while I am the first to admit I am no expert in that stuff, I do find it fascinating. I do think there is some great potential going there, but Shirky does not think so. Instead he is quick to dismiss the ideas that the semantic web presents. Why not try to get creative and help figure out a way it could work? If we continue bashing ideas and designs without presenting our own ways of making things better, how do we move forward at all.
When Kottke went through his redesign and many people decided to call it a revolution in blog design I admit that I was quick to point out, like many others, that in no way did I see it as revolutionary. However, I did start to think of how I would make a blog better and you have been seeing those thoughts being formulated in real-time here.
When you design a site for your company or a client do you ever look at it and think that it could be better? If it could be better why don't you make it better then? Not enough time maybe or you already went over budget. Sometimes maybe we could forget about time and money and place our ideals ahead of all that and try to make a site a little better. That may require you to stay at work a little longer or to do those minor touches for free. I mean if you are not giving people your best effort are you being fair to them?
I don't know if this is even a decent rant and it wasn't supposed to be one. I just think the web could be a better place. I am getting tired of people saying that CSS designs are all the same or that all blogs look the same. I kept telling myself that I didn't think the two column blog layout was the most efficient method for blogs so I changed it some. The sites in the CSS Vault show you that CSS sites are not just blocky. If you are going to complain then fix it. If not just chill on the sidelines while the real players enjoy the game.
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I really think the term 'Web Architect' shoudl be used with extreme caution. Though I understand the idea behind it and agree that a thoughtful web designer certainly does some "architecting", unregulated usage of that word totally devalues the standards and licensure related to being an architect. You wouldn't call yourself a web lawyer if you didn't go to law school would you? Architects and Landscape Architects have to go through not only years of training, but years of practical experience and expensive and vigorous testing to become "architects". If you are not licensed, you must refer to yourself as a designer, not an architect. As a web designer myself, I would be glad to see a similar system for this application. That way, when someone says "whoohoo, look at me, I'm a WEB ARCHITECT" perhaps it would mean something. A rant for a rant, a good trade I think.
mahalie (http://www.mahalie.com/blog/)
Actually, Scrivs... you're probably not qualified as a web architect. That's a specific job title for someone who is responsible for designing, planning, and implementing heavy enterprise class stuff, interfacing with mainframes and big clustered servers and so on. Not just design, but development, server maintenance and tuning, database maintenance and tuning, failover, disaster recovery planning and implementation... lots and lots of stuff that the vast majority of people don't need but which can be vital in an enterprise environment that deals with lots of web stuff. Although it is sometimes used for less stringent work by companies who don't know better.
Sounds good though, doesn't it?
As for the rest, yeah, you're pretty much on target. :-)
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
First, I agree with mahalie and JC.
Architecture is not easy, requires a lot of experience and usually involves large scale things.
If you build a birdhouse and you drew your own plan, sure, you can say "I am the architect of this birdhouse". It does not mean the same thing as being the architect of a cathedral or a stadium. The knowledge and experience required differs by orders of magnitude.
Now, about doing one's best.
This is sometimes not possible, because 'one's best' is not 'client's best'. You could use this argument to a certain extent in professional sport. The player, being paid a lot of money believes he did his best, yet the fan will whine and whine if the team loses, demanding the real best.
Is it fair? A designer does not control how the client reacts. He probably takes pride in what he does, and tries hard to create something good only to be shoot down by the client. Perhaps the designer is not good or the client is being narrowminded. If it is the latter, than no matter how much overtime the designer puts in, it could be wasted.
Zelnox
Funny how this article makes me think of "Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design" by Henry Petroski
Zelnox
Not to demean the meaning of architect because it certainly is harder to build a house initially than it is to build a website. However, I am sure everyone is seeing where I am coming from so are there any other suggestions, because I get tired of saying I do web design, and the 13 year old down the street can claim the same thing.
Anyways, this entry wasn't really about that. It is more about the sad state where people are doing more talking than walking. Blogs have given rise to the perpetual critic where it is easy to stay behind your website and critic everything to death, yet offer no suggestions on how to make things better.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
"and the 13 year old down the street can claim the same thing."
I understand your point, but I think you've said it all : he CLAIMS to do the same. With his limited experience a 13yo can't compete with someone who have worked in the industry for years ... and for real. Period.
P01 (http://www.p01.org)
"developer" works fine. You know php and mysql and a few other things, so you qualify even if design is what you prefer
web interface specialist maybe?
there are a bunch of web related job titles at salary.com
Keith had a thread about it on asterisk (still no obnoxious 9rules banner there?)
http://www.7nights.com/asterisk/archives/web_job_titles_whats_yours.php
webmonkey had an article on it.. http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/98/41/index2a.html?tw=jobs
and of course you can always do a search at Monster and see what individual companies are calling their employees...
as for the 13 year old down the street, it reminds me of something I read once, maybe dave barry, talking about a small town in ohio, with a big chain haircutting shop and the local barber across the street from each other. The big chain had a sign "We give $5 haircuts!"
The writer wondered how a local barber could compete against that.. til he saw the barber's similar sign... "We FIX $5 haircuts"
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
'esponsible' (adj)
A form of responsibility peculiar to many Web designers, noteable for it's lack of care and common sense.
Richard Rutter (http://www.clagnut.com/)
Shirky wrote a nice little piece on the Kottke...
A missing quote displays that section compressed to the above in Mozilla Firebird. IE does the same. I had to look at source to read what you were saying.
Jeff Walden
Well damn that messed up half the article. Thanks for pointing that out Jeff. Fixed now.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
Paul Ford wrote a very interesting response to Shirky's article. You can find it here: http://www.ftrain.com/ContraShirky.html
As for the whole Web Designer/Architect thing... I think Web Developer conveys the message better.
sergio (http://overcaffeinated.net)
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#1
"If it could be better why don't you make it better then?"
You're right about that. The problem I run into 90% of the time is the client (or boss) wants something done and when you try to discourage it because it's bad design you get the "It's my company/project...do it."
I actually had that said to me about an ad I was working on a few months ago that I had to change and I just saw the printed version today and it's embarassing.
But, in the end, you just try your best and rework it if it isn't up to your standards.
Todd (http://www.monkeyhouselounge.com/tcoleman2/)