Comments on: Truth is… web design comes second (and third, fourth and fifth)

By: Robin Cannon

Robin Cannon — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:11:30 +0000

I’m a web designer and I don’t find this a difficult concept to accept. Ultimately design is there to showcase content. A website design with great visuals and excellent navigation is ultimately pointless without worthwhile content.

That being said, I think it’s also fair to see that design is vital in order to encourage engagement with the content. Just as a great design is pretty pointless without good content, good content can lose the opportunity to engage with an audience if it’s badly presented.

By: Kumail Hunaid

Kumail Hunaid — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:51:50 +0000

The correct order:

# Content — the substance of the website. The largest and most important aspect. It’s why the website exists and what visitors come to see.
# Usability — user-friendly with a simple and reliable interface. The design must make the content easily accessible no matter the technology its viewed on.
#Appearance — graphic design creating the optimal layout and visual style to reinforce the message being communicated.
# Functionality — dictated by the content, the purpose of the website and the audience… what interactivity is required/ desired to fulfil the website’s aim.
# Visibility — a website must reach its audience. The site must provide quality content optimised for search engines and to attract visitors/

If you dont have appearance but have shit load of buttons (aka functionality) its only going to confuse and drive away users.

If you have a visible website but when the user visits your site his eyes bleed, he is not going to stick around.

So thats the correct order!

By: aravind

aravind — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:41:13 +0000

Is this purposefully written to make some debate over here so that you will get more popularity and visitors?

Whatever, I completely disagree with your points.
Content and design should go side by side. UI has key role in making a website work.

By: Meshach

Meshach — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:49:33 +0000

@digital: I fear that comment was way out of line. John is a SEO Copywriter and does his job very, very well. What does taxonomy have to do with this anyway?

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:43:26 +0000

The comments here are mute,we all concerned with content and design,what we have all forgotten is “less is more” communicating should be simple and that’s the hard part.
Look at all the great communicators in any form they make it look so simple.

By: webdesign

webdesign — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:39:03 +0000

I think the issue for a lot of designers is that they are reliant on the client for the content (on most ocassions) yet the design aspects of the website you have full control over.
Many times I have worked with a client and they want to see a mockup design before I even see any content. It can make it quite challenging when the content actually turns up.
I think the number 1 question that must be answered before anything happens is ‘what is the website trying to achieve?’. This will determine the nature of the content that you need as well.
I definitely think that content is king from an SEO perspective, and in that regard you must know first what keywords you are looking to target.
Great article. Thanks for the info.

By: Wizely

Wizely — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:38:08 +0000

Wow, thanks for that digital… I assure you I’m content and can write real pretty!

I put the point of this article across strongly to open it for debate and your point on verbal and visual being in sync is well made and, strangely the article says both should work in harmony.

This isn’t an attack on design and the ‘gross’ assessment is a take on what design is and is something worth discussing.

A couple of quick examples of things to think about are:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/first-question-every-web-site-designer-must-ask.html
and:
http://www.studiodino.com/info/news47.htm

By: digital

digital — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:00:51 +0000

Terrible POV.

The process is fundamental, not the discipline. Verbal & visual need to be in sync, elevating the idea as they work through the process together.

I amazed that a copywriter would make such a gross assessment and flat-out attack on a complementary discipline. Then again, an SEO writer is more so a taxonomist than a true copywriter, despite what his website proclaims. So I can understand his frustrations and malcontent.

By: Quasi

Quasi — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:43:08 +0000

The skill involved in creating a great design (form) to serve (follow) content (function) is what makes a great designer.

I dont’ know why designers have a problem with this. It doesn’t discount the importance of site design, just defines its purpose — to present the content in the most compelling manner possible in service of the purpose of the site.

By: Wizely

Wizely — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:28:04 +0000

Funny how folks have turned this into a “content v design” thing – and that somehow this article says design isn’t important. I’m sure it says that both should work in harmony just that, for effective design, the content should dictate the design not the other way round.