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What an incomprehensible design decision for a site targeting front end devs and designers. Is there any explanation out there? Google doesn't give me one.

by Jgrubb 13y ago

selmnoo 13y ago
I remember reading a comment on Reddit a few months ago that talked about how some of the very ridiculous things we see on fashion runways like clothes that almost literally look like garbage bags, things that really make you say "wait, are you serious?" actually legitimately make a lot of sense to fashion pioneers. I suppose it must be like an acquired taste type thing, like fine wine, delicacy foods, fashion choice, etc. I agree though, that insofar as good design is really about communicating information to normal people, A List Apart just dropped the ball there. Maybe the fact of the matter is that the elite designers sometimes get bored that they never get a chance to let their creativity out? I'm not sure, just thinking out loud. :)
dictum 13y ago
I never thought I'd have the opportunity to act like a fashion designer on HN, but here it is: It's that way because they want it—Jeffrey Zeldman and the ALA team. It's their playground. It looks like that because it's striking. Gets the people going. Made you look. Got you mad. It breaks the mold of traditional website design: | Logo | Nav | |----------------------| | Content | | Additional info | | Editorial info | ...and replaces it with the vertical design of book pages, with some clues from magazine design (like the header that's only partially shown). Ever read a magazine that had text on the page margins? There's a place for purely functional design, and there's a place for experimental design.
- awj 13y ago
  Well, as someone who isn't a web design diva it makes them look like they have no idea what they're doing. "Hey guys, listen to us about design, we can't even get basic things right!". That's the message I get.
  - dictum 13y ago
    Using the diva metaphor: why did theater owners suffer prima donnas and their attitude? Because they brought in the crowds. They'd move tickets. It's ALA's willingness to experiment (even if the end result is suboptimal) that made people listen to them about web design.
    - rhizome 13y ago
      What were some of their suboptimal experiments?

What an incomprehensible design decision for a site targeting front end devs and designers. Is there any explanation out there? Google doesn't give me one.

by Jgrubb 13y ago

What an incomprehensible design decision for a site targeting front end devs and designers. Is there any explanation out there? Google doesn't give me one.

selmnoo 13y ago

I remember reading a comment on Reddit a few months ago that talked about how some of the very ridiculous things we see on fashion runways like clothes that almost literally look like garbage bags, things that really make you say "wait, are you serious?" actually legitimately make a lot of sense to fashion pioneers. I suppose it must be like an acquired taste type thing, like fine wine, delicacy foods, fashion choice, etc. I agree though, that insofar as good design is really about communicating information to normal people, A List Apart just dropped the ball there. Maybe the fact of the matter is that the elite designers sometimes get bored that they never get a chance to let their creativity out? I'm not sure, just thinking out loud. :)

dictum 13y ago

I never thought I'd have the opportunity to act like a fashion designer on HN, but here it is: It's that way because they want it—Jeffrey Zeldman and the ALA team. It's their playground. It looks like that because it's striking. Gets the people going. Made you look. Got you mad. It breaks the mold of traditional website design: | Logo | Nav | |----------------------| | Content | | Additional info | | Editorial info | ...and replaces it with the vertical design of book pages, with some clues from magazine design (like the header that's only partially shown). Ever read a magazine that had text on the page margins? There's a place for purely functional design, and there's a place for experimental design.

awj 13y ago
Well, as someone who isn't a web design diva it makes them look like they have no idea what they're doing. "Hey guys, listen to us about design, we can't even get basic things right!". That's the message I get.
- dictum 13y ago
  Using the diva metaphor: why did theater owners suffer prima donnas and their attitude? Because they brought in the crowds. They'd move tickets. It's ALA's willingness to experiment (even if the end result is suboptimal) that made people listen to them about web design.
  - rhizome 13y ago
    What were some of their suboptimal experiments?