Design Communication for New Environments

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RMIT Masters in Design

August 27, 2009 • 9:30 pm 0

Activity 1.4

Using the new environment from the previous weeks, research what kinds of technologies may have been used to construct it.

  • Is the content dynamic? Or is it static?

  • Does it use simply XHTML, or does it also use another technology like Adobe Flash, for instance.

The content is static. It is written using XHTML 1.0 Transitional standard

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

XHTML 1.0 was the W3C’s first Recommendation for XHTML. XHTML 1.0 is specified in three “flavours”;

  • XHTML 1.0 Strict – Use this when you want really clean structural mark-up, free of any markup associated with layout. Use this together with W3C’s Cascading Style Sheet language (CSS) to get the font, color, and layout effects you want.
  • XHTML 1.0 Transitional – Many people writing Web pages for the general public to access might want to use this flavor of XHTML 1.0. The idea is to take advantage of XHTML features including style sheets but nonetheless to make small adjustments to your markup for the benefit of those viewing your pages with older browsers which can’t understand style sheets. These include using the body element with bgcolor, text and link attributes.
  • XHTML 1.0 Frameset – Use this when you want to use Frames to partition the browser window into two or more frames.

And for such a basic looking site, the Web site uses quite an elaborately detailed externally referenced CSS file for styles.

There is some very basic JavaScript references on the page. If has a “browser sniffer” which just changes the CSS reference depending on what browser version. And there is a piece of script within the XHTML that show/hides a login.

Looking closely at the XHTML code there is an entire ‘header’ <div> that does not appear on the page. It contains the above login, a search feature, a breadcrumb, a text menu and some title copy. Why it’s developed so it doesn’t appear is beyond me.

Filed under: Learning Activities, , ,

August 27, 2009 • 7:39 pm 0

Important parts of communication design

So what do you think are the important parts that communication design can contribute to the design of new environments?

As Steve Krug (2000, p. 5) say’s;

“It’s not rocket surgeryTM”

“Usability really just means making sure that something works well: that a person of average (or below average) ability and experience can use the thing – whether it’s a Web site, a fighter jet, or revolving door – for its intended purpose without getting hopelessly frustrated.

Like a lot of common sense, though, it’s not necessarily obvious until after someone’s pointed it out to you.”

As, by definition, these environments are “new”; I believe as designers it is our role to design interfaces or environments that are easily understood by most users and all targeted users. The design should be “self-evident”. As Steve Krug (2000) points out “don’t make me think”.

“Your goal should be for each page to be self-evident, so that just by looking at it the average user will know what it is and how to use it.

Sometimes, though, particularly if you’re doing something original or ground-breaking or something very complicated, you have to settle for self-explanatory. On a self-explanatory page, it takes a little thought to ‘get it’ – but only a little. The appearance of things, their well-chosen names, the layout of the page, and the small amounts of carefully crafted text should all work together to create near-instantaneous recognition.”

“On the internet, competition is always just one click away, so if you frustrate users they’ll head somewhere else.”

Steve Krug (2000, p. 18)

One of the things we should strive for as designers is “interface consistency”. Consistency with established practices and consistency within the environments’ design. As Jeffery Vein (2000, p. 30) says;

“To dismiss basic contexts and visual hierarchy as ‘boring’ or ‘pedestrian’ is akin to laughing at a car’s steering wheel as unimaginative.”

“Not too long ago, it was easy to make assumptions about Web audiences. Everyone who was using the web back then was creating the Web as well. We built interfaces which assumed that. However, as the Web quickly grew, the sophisticated users became the one percentile, and designers had to stop relying only on experimentation with interfaces, and concentrate on building sites that were simple and consistent. Impatient users, it turned out, weren’t interested in learning new and different navigation schemes every time they happened across a new site.”

My key principals of effective Communication Design

I have picked my key principles from; http://tinyurl.com/3yy93q and http://tinyurl.com/3jb7og

  1. Don’t make users think!
  2. Don’t squander users’ patience.
  3. Focus users attention.
  4. Make use of effective writing.
  5. Strive for simplicity.
  6. Strive for balance.
  7. Strive for clarity.
  8. Communicate effectively with a “visible language”.
  9. Establish and maintain conventions.
  10. Address users needs.

And finally, for more “visual” design tips I have often referred to; http://tinyurl.com/cjdnu4

…

references;
Krug, S 2000, Don’t make me think, 1st edn, New Riders Publishing, USA.
Veen, J 2000, The Art & Science of Web Design, 1st edn, New Riders Publishing, USA.

Filed under: Weekly Discussions, , ,

August 27, 2009 • 5:26 pm 0

Activity 1.3

How is Communication/Graphic Design used?

‘Why OpenOffice.org’ is using Communication Design in the form of it’s written copy to primarily; promote the use of the OpenOffice Suite of software and it’s benefits. Unfortunately it isn’t doing it very well as the copy is overwhelmingly long and presented in a dauntingly cluttered way. Which leads me to the Graphic Design of the site. In my opinion there really hasn’t been any good graphic design principles used in the presentation of the site. It’s cluttered, and awkward to read and to navigate.

…

How is identity expressed? Colour palette, visual treatments and writing style.

In my opinion ‘Why OpenOffice.org’ has not expressed an identity. Apart from one large and poorly executed animated image, there is very little design elements to link it to the parent website or the OpenOffice identity.

Why OpenOffice.org animated gif

Why OpenOffice.org animated gif

It utilises some of the light blue colour sparsely, and there is a poorly executed Sun Microsystems logo image in the footer that links it visually to the parent company.

Sun Microsystems gif

Sun Microsystems gif

As I commented on Activity 1.2; I was concerned that this was not an official site. I was led to that assumption, as I am sure many other users would, because there is very little visually to identify this site as being part of the OpenOffice ‘brand’.

…

How does the environment communicate to users?

This environment communicates very poorly to users. Its clear lack of understanding of graphic design and user experience principles reflects poorly on what is otherwise a very solid and well respected software product and brand experience.

…

How does this communication/graphic design contribute to the user experience?

I would say if a user really wanted to find out more information they would probably persevere. But the experience would be far from satisfactory. I think a lot of users, after being confronted by the bewildering homepage would probably look elsewhere for information.

Filed under: Learning Activities, , ,

Welcome

My name is Craig Burtenshaw. you can find out more about me here.


This blog contains my responses to activities required for the subject GRAP2084 Design Communication for New Environments as part of the RMIT Masters in Design.

 

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