User:Madsgormlarsen/sandbox

= Ugly design or perhaps no design can be a good thing = A who's who list of web pages, google, youtube, amazon, ebay, imdb, Drudge Report, Craigslist, last.fm, delicious, myspace, facebook, wikipedia, linkedin, flickr, digg etc. These web pages are not known for ascetically beautiful design, these web pages show why it has been stated again and again, it is about the CONTENT stupid, or more politely content is king.We say that design is important for companies like Apple, Bang and Olufsen, Louis Vuitton etc., because we expect the product from these companies to be beautiful and fashionable. We say that design is important for a companies making sewer pipes[#FOOTNOTE-1 1], because the sewer pipes should be functional. So from that perspective design is always important, but not all web pages should necessarily be beautiful, and some web pages should not have a design.

Express yourself with an ugly web page
A web pages such as Drudge Report is extremely ugly but good design,[#FOOTNOTE-2 2] among other reasons because the design matches the messages and purpose of the webpages. You can read more about this in this excellent post [/seo-optimization-tips/the-surprising-truth-about-ugly-websites.html The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites]. Do notice that their are many other examples, such as Craigslist or IMDB.[#FOOTNOTE-3 3] You should always match message and design, so nothing new here really. If there is something new here, then it might be that a lot of very succesful web pages are built without the help of art directors or designers, and they succeed all the same, hence the meme content is king.

Prioritize usability over beauty
When we look at Google's design, they have been design following all the usability guidelines expressed by Jakob Nielsen, all the way down to the famous underlined "ugly blue links". This is the right choice for Google, because Google is a tool, is should prioritize functionality above all. Other examples could be wikipedia, delicious etc.

The need to have no design
Some web pages should not have a design, in the sense that is should be is designed to to allow for personal style[#FOOTNOTE-4 4]. The best example of that is myspace,[#FOOTNOTE-5 5] where you are not supposed to use the default theme that comes with your profile, each user design their own profile. This is of course not always the right choice for any given web page, or any given social network service. It would not be the right choice for the professional job hunting web page like linkedin, and it might not even be the right choice for facebook. Linkedin is moare a kind off job hunting tool, so it falls in the same category as Google. Other examples of web pages that is and should be designed to allow for personal style is twitter and iGoogle.

Should your web page be beautiful?
Should your web page be a beautiful, should it prioritize usability over beauty, be ugly in order to fit the message, or should it have no design? Well, can you name a web page that is successful because of it's beautiful design? The next question could be, when we look at classic big brand companies such as Rolex and Louis Vuitton, how should they then prioritize beauty? If we compare Rolex with Louis Vuitton's web page, then there is a little more tool about LV. Who is right here? But should sections of these web pages be even more tool like, and should part of their web pages be designed to allow for personal style?


 * 1) Thrasher, D. (1987). Design and use of pressure sewer systems. Chelsea, Mich: Lewis.
 * 2) The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites. (n.d.). . Retrieved December 28, 2008, from /seo-optimization-tips/the-surprising-truth-about-ugly-websites.html.
 * 3) Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web - (37signals). (n.d.). . Retrieved December 28, 2008, from http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1407-why-the-drudge-report-is-one-of-the-best-designed-sites-on-the-web?print=no.
 * 4) Vitamin Features ¬ª The MySpace problem. (n.d.). . Retrieved December 28, 2008, from http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/design/the-myspace-problem.
 * 5) "G/localization: When Global Information and Local Interaction Collide". (n.d.). . Retrieved December 29, 2008, from http://www.danah.org/papers/Etech2006.html.