Monday, January 30

Wk5 reading (Hierarchy)

Halverson, Margo. Hierarchy And Contrast: The Basis of Good Design. Available online at: http://www.presentation-pointers.com/printarticle.asp?articleid=399

The theme this week is a toss up between solid basic design points and broken links. I'll focus on the former.

It seems like hierarchy and simplicity are becoming so paramount to me through this, and other, communication programs that I can't avoid thinking about it in every communication decision that I make. While writing papers looking at the text as the narrative form of a bullet list (with outline hierarchy) is becoming unavoidably necessary. Even the academics want it delivered simple, so the folks outside the ivory tower... [insert witty euphemism for 'even more so.']

Mind numbing power point presentations are part of our lives, but this program should force us to no longer inflict this torture on our co-workers, colleagues, and class-mates.

Wodtke, Christina. 2002. Blueprints for the Web: Organization for the Masses. Available online at: http://www.informit.com/articles/printerfriendly.asp?p=30289&rl=1

Pressing the point further, the article on data organization (the link was magically repaired) really rung true regarding my work with databases and information architecture. But, it was meant as an interface and content interaction issue. It's also fairly obvious to people who work in the 'backend industry' that the final face of the website has little or nothing todo with the way things are truly laid out. Users think differently than engineers. Engineers are stubborn, users are fickle. Wow a quote.

EXTRA READING QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "...blind guides who wouldn’t know aesthetic appeal if it stripped bare and gave them a table dance."

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