Good Design vs. Bad Design- Lauren Zima

Good design can be difficult because much of it is preference-based. I think we see this a lot with magazines and Web sites more than we do with newspapers. Magazines and Web sites are much more niche-marketed, so their design needs to appeal to their readers. Of course, there are also basic news Web sites, which tend to have pretty straight-forward, basic layouts.

Personally, I appreciate simplicity more than anything else. The worst Web sites are like some of the examples Olga showed us in class - completely over done and impossible to navigate. It’s tempting to want to use every feature available, but that’s not a good idea. A visually abrasive design will get rid of an audience faster than anything else.

In terms of good site design, I think the first and most important component, as Olga mentioned, is that from first glance the reader can tell what your site is about. Second in importance is that the site is easy to navigate – that the reader can access the information your site is trying to provide in an easy way.