Boxes And Arrows : The Design Behind the Design

Article Idea:

5500 years and counting

suggested by Brendan Hamley on 2007/06/11

It’s easy isn’t it. Designing websites and efficient interfaces that is. We utilise emerging patterns of interaction, learn from user behaviors, plan customer journeys, envision the ideal path to purchase – we aim to design and architect engaging and memorable experiences and we’re beginning to do it on an industrial scale. We do it all because our craft is at core about translating user needs into efficient and usable navigation structures, and this is a useful and gratifying thing for people to be involved in. If a user wants to go from A to B we’ll propose the very thing to get them there. If they want to go from C to J and on to K – no problem. It’s our job, and there’s NOTHING wrong with that.

And we love it. We’re motivated by the how to of designing solutions that deliver exactly what our users and clients want. We’re excited by the measurables – the sales, clicks, errors, alerts. Lovely graspable heuristics, metrics, indices et al. And what really attracts us most is it the heady blend of logic and creativity that is UI/UX/IA/ID design.

Our field is still young though. There’s much work to be done around the intersection of utility, communication and emotion (and the rest). There are patterns to discover, there are gaps in our real-world metaphors to fill, there are many containers needing distinctive and lasting labels and there is a shared cultural language to develop. We have a responsibility to do such things yet are we neglecting such duties?

Have I upset anyone? Sorry. Think of me as just a disgruntled 18th Century artist bemoaning the advent of steam smudged industrialists – “where’s the art”???? Does that help? No – thought not. At least though it was fun to imagine what bizarre images these words conjured up in your head.

And there it is. Words. HUGELY powerful little things, each one a bulging bag of meaning. I want to write about them.

Forget interaction guidelines, forget UX best practice, forget behavioral analysis and all the rest. What are YOU (yes you) doing to offer a real and tangible sense of dialogue between your designs and your end-users? With the exception of shared interest sites like this and the notable emergence of user-led content, I don’t see or hear enough of it out here in this environment we’re all involved with building. The Indus scribblers had the right idea – get an object and mark it up so others will recognise, understand and use it, and it will last for thousands of years. We’ve got some way to go.

So. I want to write for you about words, about language, about communication – about what we say and the way we say it. From ancient markings, to wax tablets, to morse code, cathode and beyond – words have always been there with us. Written, spoken, sung and shared. We must not forget this simple truth – language is what ultimately distinguishes us in the evolutionary scale of things and the same evolution applies to the effectiveness of our industry. Without good dialogue, even the brightest and smartest of electronic experiences may well be doomed to a Terminator style automated ghost ship future.

Oh … what do words matter anyway?