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Jennifer Fraser, Lead User Experience Designer at the Corel Corporation, had an interesting idea for a panel; what (website design) would Caesar do? Well, actually, not Caesar, but Vitruvius - an ancient Roman dude who might not be as well known by the general populace as his tyrannical countrymen, but he is a must-read when studying architecture. He was the ancient Roman architect guy who studied what made good architecture. In fact, he studied architecture more than he actually practiced it.
Vitruvius evaluated architecture on three aspects: Durability, Convenience and Beauty. In this panel, Jennifer Fraser attempted to analyze current day web design from Vitruvius' perspective.
While durability seems to be the opposite of failing, Jennifer Fraser put forth that the "Durability" of a website really lies in its ability to "fail gracefully," rather than causing a user to lose work or have to repeat steps or other inconveniences.
Convenience (or Utilitas) dictates that the design should "present no hindrance," and that it has "suitable and appropriate exposure." In architecture, this is reflected in south-facing fronts of homes to capitalize on natural heating. In web design, this would indicate that we should use clearly delineated areas and easily recognizable buttons and creating a clear delineation between areas of differing access rights; private and public areas should be separated appropriately.
Beauty (or Venustus) refers to a type of beauty known as "Eurythmy." According to Vitruvius, "Eurythmy is beauty and fitness in the adjustments of the members." For web development, this can be affected by removing distraction from design. As an example of this type of beauty, Fraser selected the Microsoft Mini Toolbar - it appears in place when an element is modified, starting in a translucent state, then becoming opaque if the user hovers over it.
In such a high-tech and fast-paced world, it's a worthwhile activity to stop and reflect on the age-old tried-and-true art of design and to see how it can be applied to our data-driven world of today. |