Community Design

I have been working with a company in the last four or five months to rebuild their business, integrated marketing and branding plan. They are trying to re-build an online community and I think we have finally landed on a very solid plan. The only problem is now they all want to work on the design of the site. One wants the site to look one way and the others want it to look another. After a lot of in fighting, I finally told them that they were missing the point. The people/community should be the ones who decide what the site looks like and acts like. I almost couldn't believe it when I said it. This coming from the lips of a Graphic Designer? But, things have changed and this article talks a little about that swirling changes happening on the web.

Enjoy!

That Craigslist has succeeded with a minimalist design is no secret to anyone who’s been around the net for a while. But could Craigslist have done as well if it had a slick, flashy design? Even if you discount practical issues such as load time and usability, the answer is an emphatic no.

The entire concept of “design” runs counter to the idea of community. Well, that’s not entirely true. Literally, design takes many forms - such as usability, universality, and affordance. All of these are important in any creative endeavor. What I’m talking about is — you know, Design — the kind of stuff that evokes such adjectives as “bold”, “edgy”, and “daring”.

Design tells users “this is who we are”, “this is what we believe in”, “this is how we want you to feel about being here” — all valuable messages for web sites looking to sell a product or an idea. But a true community should be deciding these things for themselves.

Read the Rest of the article at http://www.hhcc.com/?p=361