@media 2007 - part two
How to be a creative sponge
Jon Hicks
This was another inspirational presentation. Again, always interesting to learn which processes different designers follow and where they get ideas, how they work through thoughts and how they build a product from a blank canvas. Jon spoke of how he looks to design outside the web to keep his creative juices flowing. He talked of being a collector - of leaflets, magazine clippings, t-shirt design colour schemes and online sources of photo galleries and collections eg. flickr. He also spoke of the importance to him of using a sketckbook - of how things from your mind can escape in all kinds of ways. Taking photographs of signs, objects, scapes, colours etc and cataloguing them really help to provide instant resources when faced with a blank page. Another interesting thought was the use of mood boards for clients. Not only can this be a useful method of getting the ball rolling, but it also helps clients to feel involved in the process which can be valuable indeed. Lastly, following on from an audience question, Jon introduced the idea of an online 'shed' where you can tinker with things non-client to keep playing with ideas. I'm off to find a flatpack version.
For example...
Hannah Donovan and Simon Willison
This session, presented by key team members, introduced design, implementation and work flow issues faced in real-life situations. Hannah Donovan, Head of Creative at Last.fm was first to the floor. She came up with some really interesting points and seemed to take a down to earth, realistic approach to issues. She spoke of how she came to Last.fm after the site had been developed which was the wrong way round to approach the development of a web application. However, the bottom line was that it was imperative to launch the site so as to be ahead of the competition. With this in mind, there was no time for perfectionism. From this approach came another piece of advice - don't get involved in 'skinning' or 'styling'. I could relate to that as I have done a fair bit of this over the years. I've had a sense of achievement seeing things coming to life when I've applied styles to applications, but have also seen underlying issues with usability and have grappled with the idea that there must be a better way. This said, often the fact that skinning is a necessary evil is, going back to Hannah's first point, because time and budget allows for only that. It can also be the result of Hannah's other main point - lack of interaction between designer and developer. Hannah related to difficulties she had with bringing design and development together and how 'scrum' meetings helped to overcome this. So overall, Hannah's message was that development is often an iterative process - you start with 'broad brush strokes' and fill in the detail later as time permits. Another tip that stuck in my head was not to release new visuals unless they are accompanied by a feature. I guess people like to feel some added value and receive a sense of reason behind a visual change.
Simon Willison followed, talking about the project, Lawrence.com. Simon explained the challenges faced by a small team developing a local directory site and how the site stoood out against other local directory listings.
Advancing web accessibility
Shawn Lawton Henry
I actually kept up with Shawn's presentation - I usually struggle with accessibility presentations because they can be dry and smattered with acronym-riddled document names and organisations. Shawn's session described how WCAG 2 would work, how it was based on success criteria rather than the priorties of WCAG 1. There is also emphasis on the 'informative' where techniques are introduced that are adaptible and flexible with examples. Scripting techniques that enhance accessibility have also been accepted. Shawn spoke at length about WCAG 2 supporting materials, which will probably turn out to be explored and used more than the document itself. These come in the form of 'informative' techniques and 'understanding' (reference). A 'quick reference' sits somewhere between the two. This supplies 'sufficient techniques' and 'advisable techniques'. Shawn went on to discuss the importance of CMS systems adopting accessibity concepts in order to generate accessible code and how pressure needs to be applied in some way to ensure this is the case. Overall, Shawn conveyed her desire for an accessible web, regardless of responsibility. We can argue the responsibility issue all we like, in the meantime there are people out there unable to access information. Another viewpoint to consider.
Royale with cheese
Andy Clarke
As the title suggest, a look at how globalisation has affected websites. In the same way that many high streets in many towns all over the world feature the same shops, the same global brands, so there is the capacity for the web to follow suit. However, as with Macdonalds in Amsterdam compared with Macdonalds in the States, there are little differences that remain. Andy Clarke investigated the question, do websites from certain localities have a similarity? He asked designers of many nationalities their opinions and these seemed to be divided. Is there such a thing as a quitessentially british website design? If yes or no, is that good or bad?! He also suggested that large corporates/brands often approached multi-national sites with an air of arrogance, by simply providing translations in the same format as the home language. Is this a correct approach? Are we qualified to make assumptions as to how another nationality might use a website? Should multi-national brands offer individual countries the opportunity to create their own local site to ensure something is produced that most relates to that culture? Quite a thought-provoking presentation. I certainly have started to look out for 'the little differences' when I browse the web.
Jon Hicks
This was another inspirational presentation. Again, always interesting to learn which processes different designers follow and where they get ideas, how they work through thoughts and how they build a product from a blank canvas. Jon spoke of how he looks to design outside the web to keep his creative juices flowing. He talked of being a collector - of leaflets, magazine clippings, t-shirt design colour schemes and online sources of photo galleries and collections eg. flickr. He also spoke of the importance to him of using a sketckbook - of how things from your mind can escape in all kinds of ways. Taking photographs of signs, objects, scapes, colours etc and cataloguing them really help to provide instant resources when faced with a blank page. Another interesting thought was the use of mood boards for clients. Not only can this be a useful method of getting the ball rolling, but it also helps clients to feel involved in the process which can be valuable indeed. Lastly, following on from an audience question, Jon introduced the idea of an online 'shed' where you can tinker with things non-client to keep playing with ideas. I'm off to find a flatpack version.
For example...
Hannah Donovan and Simon Willison
This session, presented by key team members, introduced design, implementation and work flow issues faced in real-life situations. Hannah Donovan, Head of Creative at Last.fm was first to the floor. She came up with some really interesting points and seemed to take a down to earth, realistic approach to issues. She spoke of how she came to Last.fm after the site had been developed which was the wrong way round to approach the development of a web application. However, the bottom line was that it was imperative to launch the site so as to be ahead of the competition. With this in mind, there was no time for perfectionism. From this approach came another piece of advice - don't get involved in 'skinning' or 'styling'. I could relate to that as I have done a fair bit of this over the years. I've had a sense of achievement seeing things coming to life when I've applied styles to applications, but have also seen underlying issues with usability and have grappled with the idea that there must be a better way. This said, often the fact that skinning is a necessary evil is, going back to Hannah's first point, because time and budget allows for only that. It can also be the result of Hannah's other main point - lack of interaction between designer and developer. Hannah related to difficulties she had with bringing design and development together and how 'scrum' meetings helped to overcome this. So overall, Hannah's message was that development is often an iterative process - you start with 'broad brush strokes' and fill in the detail later as time permits. Another tip that stuck in my head was not to release new visuals unless they are accompanied by a feature. I guess people like to feel some added value and receive a sense of reason behind a visual change.
Simon Willison followed, talking about the project, Lawrence.com. Simon explained the challenges faced by a small team developing a local directory site and how the site stoood out against other local directory listings.
Advancing web accessibility
Shawn Lawton Henry
I actually kept up with Shawn's presentation - I usually struggle with accessibility presentations because they can be dry and smattered with acronym-riddled document names and organisations. Shawn's session described how WCAG 2 would work, how it was based on success criteria rather than the priorties of WCAG 1. There is also emphasis on the 'informative' where techniques are introduced that are adaptible and flexible with examples. Scripting techniques that enhance accessibility have also been accepted. Shawn spoke at length about WCAG 2 supporting materials, which will probably turn out to be explored and used more than the document itself. These come in the form of 'informative' techniques and 'understanding' (reference). A 'quick reference' sits somewhere between the two. This supplies 'sufficient techniques' and 'advisable techniques'. Shawn went on to discuss the importance of CMS systems adopting accessibity concepts in order to generate accessible code and how pressure needs to be applied in some way to ensure this is the case. Overall, Shawn conveyed her desire for an accessible web, regardless of responsibility. We can argue the responsibility issue all we like, in the meantime there are people out there unable to access information. Another viewpoint to consider.
Royale with cheese
Andy Clarke
As the title suggest, a look at how globalisation has affected websites. In the same way that many high streets in many towns all over the world feature the same shops, the same global brands, so there is the capacity for the web to follow suit. However, as with Macdonalds in Amsterdam compared with Macdonalds in the States, there are little differences that remain. Andy Clarke investigated the question, do websites from certain localities have a similarity? He asked designers of many nationalities their opinions and these seemed to be divided. Is there such a thing as a quitessentially british website design? If yes or no, is that good or bad?! He also suggested that large corporates/brands often approached multi-national sites with an air of arrogance, by simply providing translations in the same format as the home language. Is this a correct approach? Are we qualified to make assumptions as to how another nationality might use a website? Should multi-national brands offer individual countries the opportunity to create their own local site to ensure something is produced that most relates to that culture? Quite a thought-provoking presentation. I certainly have started to look out for 'the little differences' when I browse the web.
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