Posted by dorayme on 09/26/06 09:03

In article
<1159257478.237899.216090@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>,
usenet+2004@john.dunlop.name wrote:

> dorayme:
>
> [re Mentioning The Mechanics]
>
> > There are many reasons to avoid it, I agree. But this sort of
> > reasoning worries me. "any mention..." sounds to me to be weak.
>
> What if it was worded more generally:
>
> Anything unrelated to the real content distracts
> the user from the real content.
>

It is not the words that I worry about but the extreme thought
behind it. I have agreed to the general principle. I just worry
about extreme adherence to an ideal that is prone to ignore
practical situations.

> > But in the end in a practical situation for which a client is
> > paying good money, I want to make sure he is happy, his website
> > users have success. And I can't be running to others all the time
> > if I cannot see a time efficient "good design" solution. And to
> > be fair, it may be that you are simply wrong and no one, however
> > good, can do away with such help by clever design. I am not
> > disagreeing with your sentiment here, just any extreme form of
> > it.
>
> I think we would need specific examples to agree or disagree with each
> other since we're both talking generally.
>

Yes, I agree. This is a pic of one of about 4 examples I have...

http://members.optushome.com.au/droovies/pics/mentioningTheMechani
csBigTime.png


Another one mentions the colours seen and for users to expect
that there be some variations when seeing the actual products in
shops (a commercial site involving many fabrics and materials)
due to the variations in browsers and settings etc..., another is
an academic site allowing access to pdf files with some stuff
about right clicking.

I sometimes make available things for various purposes in a
zipped format and sometimes sin by making a few mechanical
remarks... but this usually for a restricted audience.

But by and large, best to stay clear of this sort of thing. Like
in a good work of art, it is better to just show and perform than
to explain...

This is almost a full and frank confession.

:-)

--
dorayme

[Back to original message]