[Web4lib] controlling bad design

[Andrew Hankinson]

Edward Tufte is, if nothing else, pithy, and the "Cognitive Style of  
Powerpoint" may be interesting to you.

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp

Could you clarify your position, though? It almost seems that you  
think that the aesthetic use of visuals is creating a wave of  
'terrible stuff'? What issues are you needing to address at your  
organization? Information density on Powerpoint slides? "Wasted" white  
space?

-Andrew

On 5-Aug-09, at 9:23 AM, Robin wrote:

> Ahem! Although I says it as shouldn't, I do think our web site (http://www.stcharleslibrary.org 
> ) is a nice balance of graphics and text in a pretty usable format  
> (not to imply that we no longer have vicious running battles that  
> last weeks and cause blood to flow in the corridors, but we did  
> reach consensus on the over-all look and feel, and I think it works  
> well).
>
> Robin Boulton
> IT Manager
> St Charles Public Library
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Sharon Foster
> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 6:46 PM
> To: Mary Beth Faccioli
> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] controlling bad design
>
> Replying to a slightly different question, but to me good design and
> usability go hand-in-hand.
>
> Jakob Neilson: http://www.useit.com
>
> Steve Krug: http://www.sensible.com/
>
> Eric Lease Morgan: http://infomotions.com/musings/usability-in- 
> minutes/
>
> Keith Instone: http://usableweb.com/
>
> One thing that you'll notice right away about all four websites is the
> simplicity and dearth of graphics. That's probably too far in the
> other direction for most of us and our library websites, but they can
> serve as a sanity check when we get too carried away.
>
> Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
> Librarians bring order out of chaos.
> http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Mary Beth Faccioli<mbfaccioli at yahoo.com 
> > wrote:
>>
>> Seems I'm coming around again to issues faced years back.  I'll be  
>> digging out old material on this and recompiling, but I also am  
>> wondering about any current takes.
>>
>> I'm finding that the minimalist presentation approach that  
>> encourages the use of images and visual approaches (some call it  
>> Presentation Zen) is creating another wave of terrible stuff being  
>> added to web pages and presentations, and I need to address this at  
>> my current organization.
>>
>> If you have various people in your organization who are doing their  
>> own content creation on the web using some kind of content  
>> management approach, or people newly empowered to create  
>> presentations for online delivery and other purposes, and you have  
>> some kind of 1) policy statement or 2) best design practices in  
>> place regarding the use of animations, clip art etc. - would you be  
>> willing to share those with me through links or other means  
>> (attachment in an email sent to me perhaps)?  Also, any good links  
>> to very straightforward resources that have basic design principles  
>> and things to avoid would be appreciated.  I look at a number of  
>> blogs on presentation but I'm wondering if anyone on the list can  
>> recommend any gems that are pithy and clear.
>>
>> Thanks in advance -
>>
>> Mary Beth Faccioli, MLIS
>> Instructional Design & Technology Consultant
>> Colorado State Library
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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