Fortunately for those of us not fortunate enough to have made to AIGA’s GAIN conference, AIGA has been posting video recordings from the talks on their website.
Jeffrey Zeldman, Author and founder of Happy Cog, A List Apart, and An Event Apart, gives a great talk and answers the question: what does a web designer need most? At the core of his argument: a “web designer” needs to have empathy – the ability to think about and emphasize with your users.
Points I took from the talk, but do watch it for yourself:
It is very hard to become a good web designer, and takes a lot of motivation. For one thing Web designers don’t get enough formal education on the subject of designing for the web.
The term web designer gets little respect. There are no standardized titles. You could be anything from a Web Master to User Experience Director, and basically be doing the same thing.
Most companies don’t have web departments that focus on effective well-designed web sites.
The current models for judging excellence in web design often do not equal good web experiences.
“Good web design is about the character of the content, not the character of the designer”
When you start a project start with the user – start with your passion. Fill a need that you are passionate about and don’t currently have a solution for. Create it.
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Jeffrey Zeldman: Understanding Web Design | NotForPaper - The best … | bestwebhostingservices.com | December 20th, 2008