Posts Tagged ‘Design’

With all the options to connect to people, save links and blogs, read articles, store data, search for information, and do just about anything else on the computer, it is all starting to seem a bit overwhelming. Too many ways to access data means too much time on the computer and lack of efficiency.

To be honest, I love technology and am usually one of the first to try something new. Lately though, the options have become too numerous and it is hard to keep track. It is no longer just finding something that is better and using it. Programs and applications on the web (especially networking sites) change with fads. A good example is Myspace and Facebook. Myspace was one of the largest networking sites growing at an amazing rate, and then it stopped being popular. It is true that it wasn’t really that well designed, but more than that it just wasn’t “cool” anymore. People started switching to facebook.

On one hand all the options are good. It means that you can communicate he way you like. The bad part is it means that you will spend more time on the computer and internet keeping track of your contact and making sure that you are using the same applications and sites as your friends. It takes time to get design your site the way you like it and build up your fiends, and then when a new site starts you have to do it all over again. Then there are others like LinkedIn or Plaxo. No one wants to keep 3 or 4 address books, but that’s exactly what we are doing.

Then there are all of the websites that allow you to track and share links make various functions easier. These would include Evernote, Del.icio.us, twitter, Stumble, and Digg. You can see a full list at Go2Web20.net.

Having to many options makes the web and the computer much less efficient. People are building a lot of niche applications that have a purpose, but aren’t important enough to fuinction alone. So many of them become popular and then fade away.

I think what we should work towards for what everyone is calling web 3.0 is consolidation and simplicity. Less signing up and more efficiency.

I have always had a love of design. As a child, I used to dream about the aerodynamic designs of sports cars and was fascinated by the amazing designs that allowed various household gadgets to work. Though lately, my interest in design comes out of frustration. As technology has increased, it has also become more complex to use.

One of my favorite videos on subject of simplistic design is by David Pogue. He is the technology writer for the New York Times. Not only is he an interesting and comical presenter, but is also a musician. Check out his video below.

There are a lot of programs and websites that are designed really poorly. Myspace (or Mixi, for the Japanese market) come right to mind. The problem is that most of them focus on trying to put to much content and don’t think about the design. Or the design becomes so complex that it becomes difficult to view the content.

However, there is some hope. I recently stumbled upon a website called dezinspiration. It a gallery of some really great sites. You’ll notice that most of them have two things in common. They are all very simple (not too much content in one page) and they are creative. I have listed some of my favorites below.

http://www.getabetterworker.com.au/

http://www.westin.com.au/

http://www.matrizcomunicacao.com.br/

http://www.zdotb.com/