[Web4lib] controlling bad design

Wed Aug 5 13:25:43 EDT 2009

Since there are so many ways to go wrong, it's easier to nail down
what is allowed. If your web editing tools don't allow you to make
these restrictions happen, then do it with an old-fashioned written
style sheet, like you did previously. E.g., The course syllabus shall
be in 12-pt Ariel, black... Do not use animated GIFs... Dialog box
questions shall be phrased as yes/no questions, and buttons shall be
named "Yes," "No," and "Cancel." Etc. I wouldn't offer any
explanations for the rules, but that's just me. ;-) I had many of
these discussions when I was a software engineer writing in C, and
they can easily turn into religious wars if you let them. There is
more than one "right" way to format code/web pages, but the important
thing as far as your readers/users are concerned is consistency. I'd
even be prepared to concede a few points if it results in people
following the style sheet consistently.

Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
Librarians bring order out of chaos.
http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Mary Beth Faccioli<mbfaccioli at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'll attempt to clarify as requested.
>
> Back in 2000 or so, I was at an academic library where the new liaison model in reference/instruction lead to about 20 librarians creating content for the website.  At first, they had free range to do anything using FrontPage, and uploaded pages directly to the website.  Regularly incorporated into these pages where things like: underlining for emphasis, blinking text, great variety of color in text, many different fonts used, cartoon clip art that was often animated etc.  To deal with this, I created a lengthy policy document that explained best practices and cited the reasons for things.  Many of these policies were related to usability and cited sources mentioned in responses to this email thread, like Neilsen.  I'm trying to dig up this document to see what, if anything, is relevant to the current situation.
>
> In the years since then, many of us have gone to content management systems where it's easier to have the content experts doing content for the web and doing less with the design layer.
>
> In my organization, we are now getting into a lot of online tutorial, class and presentation delivery.  This gives content experts a new canvas on which to incorporate practices like mixed fonts, different colored text, use of cartoon clip art and animations, etc.  So my primary concern at this stage is not information density, nor is it use of white space, although related principles are important to convey and would be helpful.  I'm primarily concerned about (in addition to the colored text/mixed fonts/use of all bolded caps etc) the use of graphics and images that I imagine most of us would coin "unprofessional" - cartoon animals wearing jewelry, computers being juggled by a clown, etc.  My suggestion that the "Presentation Zen" phase is responsible for this is my own surmising and could be completely off - but I do think my folks feel encouraged to communicate things visually by this approach, and could use some direction on it which I'd like to
>  provide them.
>
> Thanks for all the responses so far and I'll be happy to compile whatever I can for those who have asked me for that!
>
> Mary Beth
>
> --- On Wed, 8/5/09, Andrew Hankinson <andrew.hankinson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Andrew Hankinson <andrew.hankinson at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] controlling bad design
>> To: "web4lib at webjunction.org >> Web4Lib" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
>> Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 9:44 AM
>> 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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