Web design is the design of words
In the design of physical products, the use of words is often seen as a sign of a flaw of the design. On the contrary, in web design, without words, there is no design.
“If a design depends upon labels [words], it may be faulty,” Donald Norman writes in his book, The Design of Everyday Things. “Labels are important and often necessary, but the appropriate use of natural mappings can minimize the need for them. Whenever labels seem necessary, consider another design.”
A door handle looks like something you can grip; a chair looks like something upon which you can sit; a glass looks like something you can hold.
A door doesn’t need a label saying “Grip Here”; a chair doesn’t need a label saying “Sit Here”; a glass doesn’t need a label saying “Hold here”. We only need to look at these things to know what to do.
What does a website look like? In particular, what would a website look like if you took away all its words? Or put it this way: How would your website work if you took away all its words?
You can’t touch, squeeze, grip, walk around, size up (or down) a website. In fact, you get practically no sense of the use of a website by looking at it. (It’s just another website with three column design, smiling faces and pictures of buildings.)
You understand the use of a website by reading it. You read the labels, classifications, buttons, and other pieces of text. That’s how you know what the website is about. That’s how you know what to do next.
“Usability is not often thought of as a criterion during the purchasing process,” Norman also states in his excellent book. “Moreover, unless you actually test a number of units in a realistic environment doing typical tasks, you are unlikely to notice the ease or difficulty of use. If you just look at something, it appears straightforward enough, and the array of wonderful features seems to be a virtue.”
I recently bought a new TV. The usability of the TV itself wasn’t an issue. I didn’t even turn it on. However, the usability of the stores I visited was very important. In one store I found a TV I liked. I waited for someone to help me buy it.
When I got someone, he told me it wasn’t in stock, but that I could order it. He told me he couldn’t take the order, that I’d have to wait for someone else. I waited a little longer, then left. The TV I finally bought cost 50 percent more but I wasn’t left waiting and it was in stock.
On the Web, before you can get to the product or service of the organization, you have to use the website. What you are essentially using is words. Words can make you wait or speed you on your journey. Words can make you more confused or answer a question you had.
A website designer is a designer of words. Website usability is the principal measure of success. The Web turns design on its head. Everything builds from the word.
Web Design Dave says:
Added on July 15th, 2007 at 10:11 pmWeb design is moving away from art and moving toward a science. It’s no longer about having the coolest looking site, it’s about implementing the design features that will convert the most traffic into leads. In order for people to inquire about your products they have to be able to use your site without getting frustrated.
James Bull says:
Added on July 16th, 2007 at 9:20 amWords are an important part of the design, but there is more to design than words. Website content writers and visual designers need to work closely together, because the visual design and layout has an impact on the effectiveness of words, and vice versa.
Here’s a thought: what if writers were called “word designers”? Perhaps then the concept that text is an element of design would be easier to communicate.
Gerry McGovern (blog author) says:
Added on July 16th, 2007 at 10:08 pmDave, definitely agreed here. As you say, we are in the age of content as a science. It’s about testing, testing, testing.
Interesting idea, James. Writers are seen a lowly creatures in the organization hierarchy. Few realize the impact words have on web design, and maybe that’s because words never really had a role to play in design before the Web.
Brian Joseph Anderson says:
Added on July 17th, 2007 at 6:16 pmFor starters, the theory/theme of this fellow’s book cannot be applied to the Web. His book concerns ‘everyday things’ which implies concepts and (tangible) items most people are familiar with - and knowledgeable of. On this basis, he is not referring to the Web since it still a new technology and the majority of the public do not understand it. If they did, they would not tenaciously hold onto the perception that a site’s content is secondary to its design, colours, and special effects.
Television is the likely culprit. Prior to its advent and mass acceptance, our collective culture was a print-based one; books, poems, newspapers, leaflets, why even the American revolution took root because of written pamphlets distributed to the colonists. TV introduced images and visuals that did not require direct involvement; it was passive consumption. When the Internet came in, it was also visually-oriented and interpreted through a TV screen-like monitor. People instantly thought “It’s just like TV” and waited about as a site’s images thrilled their brain’s visual centres and whizbang effects played themselves out.
However, something has gone wrong with the programming. Sites are being abandoned or have little or no effect on their sponsors’ business and e-comm sites are failing to convert. I believe a content writer is more than just a “scribbler” or copywriter as writers were known in the print world; we are context designers and developers: we create meaning within a new technology that is still developing through the words we write. If we do our jobs as well as we know is possible (which involves ongoing research and participation in these kinds of forums), our words will convey the desired meaning and our client’s message will be understood, believed, and trusted by their audience and others.