DESIGNING FROM THE GROUND UPFuture of Web Design / November 2014 / New York City
JON SETZEN@jonsetzen
DESIGN STRATEGYFiguring out the story and solving problems.
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS & SOLVING PROBLEMSFOCUSING ON CONTENTCREATING EXPERIENCESTORY BEFORE DESIGN
Today’s Agenda
X
“Good design is as little design as possible.” - Dieter Rams
PROBLEM SOLVINGA little bit of design helps solve problems quickly.
I’M NOT THE ONLY USERYou can’t design only for yourself.
DON’T DISRUPT WORKFLOWWhat seems better for you,
could be worse for someone else.
MY SIMPLE SOLUTION
USER FEEDBACK
“I can never remember if the sticker is for the coffee or the toaster. It drives me crazy.”
- Mindy (wife, mother of two, not a morning person)
ITERATE AND IMPROVE
DESIGNED…but not designed.
IT’S MISSING THE PRETTY
“Design makes what feels complex simpler, and what is simpler feel richer.”
- John Maeda
THE SWEET SPOT OF SIMPLICITY & EXPERIENCE
SIMPLE EXPERIENCESHelp us get what we want & need effortlessly.
IT’S ALL ABOUT CONTENTExperience. Stories. Understanding.
CONTENT WINSParallax Scrolling, not so much.
“Freely distributed information that’s relevant to the person reading it. That’s web design.”
- Dan Cederholm, SimpleBits.com
CONTENT IS VAST
“Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life. It can add value by making them smarter, making them
laugh, making them do their job better, rush to their child to share the video, make a contribution to a charity”
- Avinash Kaushik, Google
GOOD CONTENT MAKES US FEEL SOMETHING
GOOD CONTENT MAKES US A PART OF SOMETHING
WE DO A LOT FOR THE CONTENT WE WANT
WE DO A LOT FOR THE CONTENT WE WANT
WE DO A LOT FOR THE CONTENT WE WANT
WE DO A LOT FOR THE CONTENT WE WANT
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR CONTENT?
CREATING AN EXPERIENCEThe unique story of your content.
LET’S TALK ABOUT MUSIC
Arcade Fire Discography Funeral Neon Bible The Suburbs Reflektor
GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHTThe best content tells the right story, right away.
WHAT IS WEB HOSTING?
THERE ARE OVER
40,000 WEB HOSTING COMPANIES
IN YOUR CITY THERE IS
ONE POWER COMPANY
+ approximately 39,994
tough metallic
dismissive machine-like
elitist
elegant conditioned
inviting human
approachable
Media Temple then Media Temple now
vs.
PERSONIFICATION
vs.
THE ARMY BEHIND YOU
MESSAGE DIVERSITY v. MESSAGE DISCIPLINE
Tell unique stories, not just the same story.
“The features for the price - but also your site design and blog posts - appealed to my sense of design aesthetic and seemed to be interesting, useful articles. Gave me a sense of professionalism that I liked.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
NEVER STOP TELLING A GREAT STORY
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
YOUR BIG SPARK IS NOT A WIREFRAMEIt’s a story. It’s a solution. It’s an experience.