Posted by Kevin Scholl on 01/25/08 04:24

Neredbojias wrote:
> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:57
> GMT Kevin Scholl scribed:
>
>> Neredbojias wrote:
>>> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 24 Jan 2008
>>> 19:13:29 GMT Kevin Scholl scribed:
>>>
>>>> On Jan 24, 11:45 am, Travis Newbury <TravisNewb...@hotmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Jan 24, 10:12 am, Kevin Scholl <ksch...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is
>>>>>> how it works." - Steve Jobs, 2003
>>>>> This from a man who's company would not survive if it were not
>>>>> subsidized by Microsoft....
>>>> Who said it, and company dynamics notwithstanding, the statement
>>>> itself contains a great deal of logical truth.
>>> The statement itself contains neither truth nor logic. It may,
>>> however, sound good to those in a mental fugue.
>> Whatever. You demonstrate a very narrow mind if you think that design
>> has no part in how a Web site works.
>
> I'm not saying design has _no part in how_ a web site "works", I'm saying
> design is not _how_ it works. You changed the meaning of the word "works"
> in your reply.

I changed nothing. It appears that the disconnect is in our definition
of "works". Read on...

> The design of a web site certainly affects how it "works" both by its
> ergonomic and aesthetic layout for appeal, and by the ease and accuracy of
> its dynamics for functionality. But how _this functionality works_ is a
> non-design issue.

I read "works" in the context of the quote to apply to information
architecture, navigation scheme, content flow both within and across
pages, among other things -- indeed, what you've outlined above. These
aspects are all part of, and involve, design. In this sense, design does
indeed have to do with HOW a Web site "works" for the user.

Were you to say that how the functionality is IMPLEMENTED is not design,
I might be more apt agree with you.

> Steve Jobs was just putting on airs. The quote is bullshit.

To each his own.

--

Kevin Scholl
http://www.ksscholl.com/

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