Jeffrey Zeldman talks Web Design
With little doubt Jeffrey Zeldman is web standards pedigree and after several failed starts in other directions he’s made the web industry a successful career. His firm Happy Cog, his e-zine A List Apart, his books on Designing with Web Standards, and the organisation he co-founded called WaSP (Web Standards Project) show that he’s a passionate authority with a determined approach to practical web design. His recent talk in October 2008 at the AIGA Business Design Conference called Understanding Web Design looks at our industry and what constitutes a good web design.
The transcript [PDF 137KB] and Jeffrey’s presentation slides [PDF 4.4MB] are also available.
First, who are web designers? We go by numerous names and perform overlapping functions depending on our organisational history and structure. And what makes a good web designer – empathy? I agree with Jeffrey that empathy is an essential ingredient, the ability to move yourself into the perspective of the user and to understand their needs and motivations while performing web design. Good web design is about synthesising the business processes, the organisational goals and objectives, it’s about market research and intelligent strategic operation as much as it is about creating a jaw droppingly gorgeous user interface. One of my pet peeves is the designer who’s willing to put their portfolio in the way of the client’s need for a successful design.
Because when you sit down and really think about web design it should always come back to the business case. Not many businesses are coming into your office with thousands of dollars to burn as an offering to your portfolio, right? They arrive with a marketing budget and a number of business needs they would like addressed in the hope of receiving business returns on their investment. And that’s where our part of the process exists – we don’t just make pretty pictures for the Internet. We design web solutions for successful returns.
As one of my design heroes Jeffrey’s AIGA talk was well worth the 42 minutes. I’d particularly recommend it to graphic designers pushing into the web or those who are just starting out in the industry. Understanding what web design is and our role in the industry can only improve our work. Learning to manage client relationships is arguably the second most valuable skill behind empathy. Enjoy.
