[Sigia-l] The New Nielsen?

[m o r r y]

This is very true in many respects. However, there are times when you're not
designing/building a website for any other purpose other than art or
exploration. In these cases it has nothing to do with a task at hand or
finding information or buying something. There's a lot of this going on at
eyebeam.org and rhizome.org.  Of course  both of those organizations are
involoved in proejcts that have specific functional goals as well as not.
Some websites and digital media is an exploration much like the situationist
Derive http://www.socialfiction.org/derive.htm was used.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Paula Thornton" <paula.thornton at prodigy.net>
To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 9:14 AM
Subject: [Sigia-l] The New Nielsen?


> Apologies for raising an old subject (I've been negligent in my readings).
I
> read with interest all of the posts...and then I read the article. I was
> confused. The largest issue was not raised at all...the opening line:
> "increase their enjoyment and encourage them to explore websites in-depth"
>
> Hogwash! Find the evidence. The value equation of the Web as a channel is
> not for entertainment or exploration. The value equation is in 'finding'
and
> 'doing'. Our eyes should never stray from that being the primary goal of
> accomplishment for design. Everything else is 'eye candy'. What evidence
is
> there that anyone wants to spend "as much time as possible" on the phone
> wandering through phone menus. The same analogy applies to the web. While
> there is opportunity to combine various forms of media, this is not
> television. Know your medium...
>
> People aren't focused on being 'entertained'...they want to avoid being
> 'pissed off'. Our goal is to deliver the value they 'seek'. If they're not
> seeking entertainment (and yes, there are exceptions for sites that are
> purely focused in this area, but I argue that few of them are either
> economically or financially justifiable), then we need to keep our efforts
> focused appropriately. I'm not suggesting 'being ugly', I'm suggesting
> justifying visual design in its contribution to the main goals...not for
> 'entertainment' sake.
>
> Along these lines I find it 'amusing' when I see things like the 'classic'
> deliverables being 'advertised' in job requests: Sample wireframes and
site
> map
>
> Monkeys can deliver wireframes and site maps (yes, I realize I'm
> exaggerating...no need to point it out...but this is an extreme issue to
> make clear). What is really needed is to assess whether or not the
> individual knows how to identify the key "finding" and "doing" activities
> and how they recommended supporting them.
>
> The field is evolving. Hone your skills.
>
>
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