[Sigia-l] is bad design a choice?

Sun Oct 23 19:15:34 EDT 2005

This discussion prompted me to react to the design/format of this listserv 
It is so unatractive and there is so much scrolling to do to read the messages, at times,I am tempted to skip everything and delete messages without reading.
Are there any plans to improve the format of delivery? 
Thanks,
Dilek Brown
dbrown1 at imf.org
IMFInformation Services Division
Washington, DC 20431
-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org on behalf of Bill Killam
Sent: Mon 10/17/2005 4:46 PM
To: 'Jared M. Spool'; 'Dave Heller'
Cc: 'Eric Scheid'; 'sigia l'
Subject: RE: [Sigia-l] is bad design a choice?

Jared writes...

>"Bad design" is design *you* don't like. 17 million folks can be happy with

it (including Alex's room-storming mom), but if *you* don't like it, well, 
it's bad.

I'm with you on this one.

Bill
-------------------------------------------------------
Bill Killam, MA CHFP
President, User-Centered Design, Inc.
20548 Deerwatch Place
Ashburn, VA 20147
email: bkillam at user-centereddesign.com
Work/Fax: (703) 729-0998
Mobile: (703) 626-6318
Web: www.user-centereddesign.com

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf
Of Jared M. Spool
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 12:00 PM
To: Dave Heller
Cc: Eric Scheid; sigia l
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] is bad design a choice?

Ohhh. I get it now.

"Bad design" is design *you* don't like. 17 million folks can be happy with 
it (including Alex's room-storming mom), but if *you* don't like it, well, 
it's bad.

Got that. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I always wondered. Now I know.

:)

Jared

At 09:58 AM 10/17/2005, Dave Heller wrote:

>them there are fightin' words. ;)
>
>jared, if you are lookin' to pick a fight, I may have to oblige, but
>only over a lot of root beer at 3a in the lobby of a nice hotel ....
>
>seriously, though. I don't think anyone here is saying that design
>trumps content (or for that matter visa versa).
>
>I can talk of my experience of eBay.
>1) I can't find what i want
>2) 2 i hate how it is presented, so really I don't trust what I'm
>getting. i really don't.
>3) I feel that eBay does nothing to help its customers make themselves
>seem anything more than "off the back of the truck" providers. I feel
>they do them a dis-service.
>
>As for MySpace, I feel this is about engagement. Community building is
>like home building. I stay here a lot and so I want to feel
>comfortable.
>
>eBay doesn't have to change its design b/c it is a veritable monopoly.
>I don't think that MySpace can do that.
>
>so yes, content or process is king, but design differentiates (and
>btw, I'm not just talking about visual aesthetics either). I'm also
>speaking about behavioral interaction design, where it is obvious that
>there is thought to the context and use of a tool and how it is used
>in that context. I think eBay fails miserably on this route of design
>as well.
>
>-- dave
>
>
>On 10/17/05, Jared M. Spool <jspool at uie.com> wrote:
> > By what metric are you judging MySpace (and eBay, for that matter,) to
be
> > *bad design*? Because it is ugly? Because *you* have trouble finding
your
> > way around it?
> >
> > It always intrigues me that people in the design community are ready to
> > praise a design where the aesthetics and "navigation" are well thought
out,
> > but no effort has be put into the content. Yet, when a site comes along
> > with excellent content (for its user community) and poor aesthetics and
> > "navigation", the condemnations rise quickly.
> >
> > Here's a thought: maybe MySpace sold for so much money purely because of
> > its content (and the access to 17 million content providers)? Maybe
that's
> > also why eBay and CraigsList (another "bad design" site) are so valuable
> > today? Maybe the users of such designs are happy with poor aesthetics
and
> > "navigation" when the content exceeds their expectations?
> >
> > Maybe, just maybe, content trumps "design"?
> >
> > Just sayin'
> >
> > :)
> >
> > Jared
> >
> >
> >
> > Jared M. Spool, Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering
> > 4 Lookout Lane, Unit 4d, Middleton, MA 01949
> > 978 777-9123   jspool at uie.com  http://www.uie.com
> > Blog: http://www.uie.com/brainsparks
> >
> >
> > ------------
> > When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible.
> > *Plain text, please; NO Attachments
> >
> > Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
> >
> > IA 06 Summit.  Mark your calendar.  March 23-27, Vancouver, BC
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > Sigia-l mailing list -- post to: Sigia-l at asis.org
> > Changes to subscription: http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigia-l
> >
> >
>
>
>--
>David Heller
>E: dheller (at) gmail (dot) com
>W: www (dot) synapticburn (dot) com

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