Design Theory Resources 1

[MasterRacker]

1. There is a person who is considered the "guru" of web site design. I lost my link to his site and cannot recall his name. If anyone knows who I am referring to please post.

2. I am interested in recommendations/reviews of available books on website design theory. I am NOT interested in things like "use ASP instead of Perl" or anythng technology related. I don't care at all about the underlying technology used to implement the site. I am looking only for information referring to the current commonly accepted standards for what is considered "good" site design/layout/structure.

Thanks in advance.
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[tanderso]

Well, I don't know who you are talking about specifically. However, having designed dozens of sites, I think I could help you with any design related issues. Remember though that there is no such thing as the way to do it. Creativity is key. Good aesthetic sense is needed to balance it though. As far as layout, you will also have to take into account practical matters such as navigation structure, etc. Often, useability and aesthetics are at each others necks, so to speak. Any site is a compromise between theses issues such that no particular part is "perfect", but they are all "pretty good".
Sincerely,

Tom Anderson
CEO, Order amid Chaos, Inc.

http://www.oac-design.com

 

[gollyg]

I'm not sure but it could be Jacob Nielsen that you are thinking of (

http://www.useit.com).

He offers alot of advice on web site design with a real usability focus, and had written numerous books on the subject.

A link that I found recently

http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/contents.html

is to a site that is based on a book titled "Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites". This offers some interesting observations on design principles and issues that are evolving through trial, error and restrictions on the web.

I think that designing a successful site can involve breaking certain rules, but not all the rules (or perhaps being aware that you are breaking them and why). These authors can be of use in learning these rules, and also in pointing out some areas of importance that may not have occurred to you. Ultimately it is up to the designer to combine usability and creativity into a unified whole.

gollyg

 

[MasterRacker]

Gollyg,

Jacob is the guy I was thinking of. Now I can put that link where I won't lose it again (yeah, right ) That Yale guide is also exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Basically, I've been put in the position of facilitating a non-technical team on a site redesign. I'm the most knowledgeable of the group and I'm certainly no expert on "good design." What I'm trying to round up is some reading material for the group to educate them (and myself) on what's involved and what's currently considered good style to help me structure the design process so we get a good result. I realize that threre's still a lot of black art involved in coming up with a pleasing and useable design butI know there are some base principles to follow.

Tom,
I'm doubtful I'll get a budget for actually hiring any outside help, but I probably will take you up on your offer to pick your brains either directly or through TT later in the project as long as I can do it without monopolizing your time. Thanks.


Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......