Posts Tagged ‘ux’

The Importance of User-Centered Design

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Let me introduce myself, I’m what you call “a user”

So, you might be thinking this is something of a contrived statement? One that is to lead on to an article full of humorous wit and intrigue, maybe with a twist! Well, I’m afraid such an assumption may lead to nothing more than bitter disappointment. But hold on and wait just a moment longer, there is a reason for doing so.

User centered design

Okay, let’s get down to the nitty-grit, the nuts and bolts, the crux, the real reason why we’re all here.
Your latest site build has gone live – it’s looking good, it’s on-brand, it’s ticking all right the boxes, it’s a master piece of modern art, a real winner. The analytics figures are beginning to come through and traffic is hitting the site in huge numbers… It’s looking like a massive success, the client is going to be ecstatic, joyous beyond all belief. You’ve got them now; a roaring success and new business will indeed be yours for the taking.
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Ye Olde 960 Grid System

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

There’s no denying that a solid grid system is imperative to the design of any successful website, but there’s not enough variety in what I’m seeing out there. It’s all the same, and it doesn’t all work. I’ve titled this post “Ye Olde 960 Grid System” because I think this grid (whether fixed or responsive) is exactly that. Old.

Mark Boulton has been talking about taking a “content out approach” to web design for a while now and I think moving away from the ‘standard’ grid fits into this approach perfectly. Unfortunately I haven’t attended any of the conferences where he’s been discussing this topic (so, sorry Mark, you may have covered this), but using the 960 grid (or any of the slight variations) as a starting point is too easy. It’s lazy. We should let the content decide the grid, not force it into a tried and tested method that’s supposed to be ‘the best’ way.
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