Maitreyi Agashe
September 20, 2010
ENGL278Z
Geary
Websites by Immigrants?
Gmail, Facebook, Washington Post, and the Weather Channel. Without fail, these are the websites that I visit every morning. Gmail, Facebook, TV Guide, Youtube, ELMS. These are the websites that I am regularly on every afternoon. It is a reasonably safe assumption that I am dependent on these websites, whether it is to keep in touch with friends, watch music videos, or get assignments for class. But why is it that we choose to visit certain websites over others? There are many alternatives to my regular websites that offer the same service. For example, there are other social networking sites and news sites that I could visit to stay in touch with friends (LinkedIn) or to get up to date news (CNN.) But why is that that I have my chosen sites? What are the appealing aesthetics of a website that keeps readers coming back?
What are the elements of a good website? According to Vitaly Friedman of Smashing Magazine, the key to a good website is the usability and utility that it offers to its clients. Friedman explains that since it is only users view and operate a website, their understanding and ability to operate functions are the only things that matter when designing a website. Friedman goes on to outline 10 principles that are important to a good website. Half of the principles are user-centric and emphasize the importance of catering to your audience. The other half focuses on the simplicity website. However after reading the article, I was not impressed. Most of the principles seemed like common sense to me. However is that because I am a digital native? Are articles such as “10 Principles of Effective Web Design” the bridge between digital natives and digital immigrants?
What is a digital native? According to Marc Prensky, a digital native is someone that is “fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet.” He also refers to a digital immigrant “one that is not born in the digital age.” Even though one can never truly shed an “accent”, one can become very fluent in the digital language. The website, www.webpagesthatsuck.com, outlines some of the worst mistakes that a web designer can make. The biggest problems that occur are that the designer designs an over the top website and does not understand the audience of the website. Are these mistakes more inherent to digital immigrants rather than digital natives? Websites and the Internet are second nature to digital natives. Therefore, they don’t feel the need to over embellish a website. For them, it is solely a tool to convey their thoughts and information, hence does not require fluff. However, digital immigrants do not view websites with the same purpose because they have not grown up with the same digital technology. By designing such designer-centric websites, are digital immigrants trying to prove that they have mastered the digital language?
Having a well designed website is not about just aesthetics, but rather promoting efficiency. In today’s digital world, everything is about efficiency since there is limited time for everything. Everyone is pressed for time and nobody wants to spend 30 minutes looking for something when it can be done in 5 minutes. A website can be aesthetically unappealing but if it accomplishes its purpose of conveying its message efficiently, then it is satisfying its consumers’ needs. When needs are satisfied, then the demand for the website will increase, thereby insinuating success of the website.
So what are the appealing aesthetics of a website that keeps readers coming back? I have come to the conclusion that in addition to being simplistic and being user-friendly, it is important that they are designed by a digital native. When a native designs a website, he or she is able to design with a purpose and do not have an accent when designing.
Works Cited
"Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015 - from Web Pages That Suck - Learn Good Web Design by Looking at Bad Web Design." Web Pages That Suck - Learn Good Web Design by Looking at Bad Web Design - Home Page. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-mistakes-in-web-design-1995-2015.html>.
Friedman, Vitaly. "10 Principles Of Effective Web Design." Smashing Magazine. 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/>.
Prensky, Marc. "Listen to the Natives." Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development: 9-13. Print.
Can you post your peer editing worksheet that you and your class partner completed for this essay? Until I receive that worksheet (or remind me if I already have), your grade will be as marked on Gradebook.
ReplyDeleteMaitreyi,
ReplyDeleteHere are some comments on your inquiry essay as I read through it:
- I love your opening about Internet routines. The opening inquiry about why we visit those comfort sites is a good one, though I feel like there's a much simpler answer for that question than we might imagine. It's the same as why we take the same routes home from work or go to the same grocery stores and malls, right?
- One piece of information I think you might be overlooking and not making enough of a concession for is content. You might visit Facebook over Linkedin because the content differs. Sure, both have the same aims and goals, but are all your friends on both networks? If you visit CNN, will you find the same information as you would on the Washington Post? Probably not due to locality.
- Your inquiries in this essay are solid, but it seems at times like you overdo the questioning. For example, asking whether digital immigrants are trying to master a language seems pointless; sure, they're trying to achieve the same goals as digital natives. Most inquiries in this essay, however, revolve around your central point about what makes us want to keep visiting a Web site and what those effective qualities are.
- I like the response to Friedman. You could probably elaborate more on how you weren't impressed. Why not? Why were the criteria common sense? Would they be common sense to all digital natives?
- Do all digital natives have a clear sense of Web aesthetics? What about blinged out MySpace pages that danah boyd referred to?
- Audience is the key to all effective communication. It's one third of the rhetorical situation. So design is always supposed to be centered on audience. How might designers get a sense of their intended viewers though?
- Thanks for citing your sources!
Your grade, which takes into account your rhetorical situation, is posted on Gradebook.