[Theforum] Why do so many people care?
Madhu Menon
webguru at vsnl.net
Mon Dec 10 12:38:24 CST 2001
At 11:23 PM 12/10/2001, A. Erickson typed these words:
>This new feature is, to me, the perfect confluence of where so many
>aspects of web dev come together. You have to deal with backend code,
>front-end code, graphic design, interface design, information design,
>community building and just the overall character change that this might
>mean for evolt as a whole.
OK, it's been said before, but I'll say it again.
The reason we are arguing so much about what goes where is that there was
no planned areas for these in the original design. For a long time now,
we've apparently been adding bits and pieces (look no further than that
mass of text called the sidebar), trying to find an empty slot where we can
put new stuff.
Well, it's gone too far. The current design is groaning under the pressure
and has already thrown in the towel. Why do these author/bio blocks look so
out of place? Because they are! There wasn't any place for them before.
We could go on trying to find a design that'll work, and we may even reach
something that looks OK, but that will only be temporary. The next time
someone comes up with a cool idea that we want to implement, we'll again go
through this vicious cycle, until we reach a point where no amount of
design can work.
Perhaps we should just postpone any further features and changes to the
main site till we analyse the survey data, work out a fresh set of design
requirements, and then create a totally new design that will actually have
a plan for author bios, etc. I see no other way to do it.
Until then, let's just vote on concepts (e.g., "we need a spot for an
author's mini-biography") and not on the actual implementation (e.g.,
"let's put it next to the title in a 300px box")
Once we get approval for ideas and concepts, we can then work them into the
design. If, however, most of us vote against a concept, then we'll all be
wasting time and bandwidth arguing over the design of a concept that the
majority were against anyway.
So, Michele, it's probably a good idea to rephrase your vote questions as:
1) Do you want author stats on the article page?
2) Do you want author bio on the article page?
If the majority votes yes, we'll put that down as part of the new design
requirement. We then vote on the design of it much later.
Do you folks think I'm talking sense?
Regards,
Madhu
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Madhu Menon
User Experience Consultant
e-mail: webguru at vsnl.net
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