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November 7, 2009

web design is not print design

Huh?

If you work in web publishing, even a little bit, then you'll know what I'm talking about.

I've come across this so often in my *counts on fingers* 6 year career in web user experience, where a designer who's classically trained in the print medium utterly fails to grasp the basics of web design. Which would be ok if it stopped there. It's when they shrug that off and insist on doing it anyway that the problems happen. But it's not about transferring your print design into html and css, or Flash, or whatever. It's about understanding the medium. Web design, with scant exception, must be driven by user needs. That's it.

I've learned that the best way to create a website that works is to follow the basic recipe of a healthy dollop of IA, a splash of usability and mix well. Add a pinch of design and season to taste. Test regularly and adjust recipe as needed during final cooking. OK so that's flippant, but here are some reasons why print does not transfer to the web and what's needed to make a website work.

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This page contains an archive of all entries posted to life with booyaa in the user experience category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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