I must agree with you. I browse the web on my phone a lot, and the only website where I want to use the mobile version is wikipedia. And even then, I need to switch back to the desktop view at times.
1. This is an UX problem but many designers take on that role for one reason or another. It is rather annoying.
2. Different teams maybe? Don't necessarily see this as the designer's fault.
3. That does seem an outdated concept these days but sometimes the client wants it that way.
4. That's a marketing problem, not design.
5. That's a subjective thing that depends on many aspects of the design.
6. Because they might work for the intended audience? Kind of depends on the reasoning behind it to decide whether it was a good idea or not.
7. Believe it or not, some clients don't want to plan, or want to pay, for mobile views.
As someone who started out as a web designer that now delves more into the development side, I am often shocked at the number of designers that know little of how to design for a web browser. They know all about the rules and practices for designing for magazines, newspapers, and billboards; but nothing on designing a web page. Too many designers get through school not knowing what they are designing for when it comes to web.
The easiest method is to design a web page, then see if you can actually build it so that it displays as expected across various browsers. If you find you cannot, then adjust the design with what you've learned and try again. Eventually you'll learn what works and what doesn't. Once the limitations and advantages are understood then the design part is much easier.
The equivalent is for a print designer to design something in Illustrator for a certain size and type of paper and never actually printing the design on that paper to see how it turns out.
I'm in the school of thought that a web designer should know HTML/CSS and how browsers render those elements as a web page. They don't necessarily need front-end developer level knowledge, but if they don't at least know the basics of how browsers work then they'll always try designs that are not workable.
Personally, if I ran a web design curriculum, I would require HTML/CSS education first, then start on design. But it's often the reverse, or worse in that designers are taught all kinds of different avenues of design, but web design is that kid in the corner no one picks for dodgeball. I've interviewed many a designer with nice school projects but not one web project in the portfolio.
> If you have a text-heavy site, please pick something softer than a stark white background. My eyes. They burn. If you're taking suggestions, I vote gray.
I agree. It's a shame Caitlin's site has mid-grey tiny fonts on a white background.
> Why put a 'contact me' link instead of just listing the email address? I hate when I click 'contact me' and my native mail app opens. Nobody uses thunderbird mail, apple's Mail is okay I guess, and Outlook is just...no. Type out the stupid address and let me choose how I send it.
Please note the lack of an email in the top right.
1. This is so true. I can sort of remember some of which companies allow spaces and special characters in their passwords, but 9 out of 10 times, I either type in 4 or 5 passwords or get myself locked out and have to reset the password. Frustrating.
3. Well that is a pretty silly quibble. You can choose how you send it: either click on it and use your default email client or right click and copy the link/email address to your clipboard and use it wherever you want. Easy peasy.
5. In my experience, designers are the only ones who actually put a softer white in their designs/pages. It's something the average developer that got stuck with doing a front-end design wouldn't do.
I wonder if the author has ever actually worked professionally on a real team with real constraints and real people all with different ideas about what is right for the product. I'm guessing probably not. Fluff like this is pointless; if doing it the Right Way™ was as simple as following a rant, it would have been done already and the reason to pay designers and developers (namely, to solve difficult problems that usually don't have a 'right' solution) would not exist.
> Why have different features across multiple apps? I love the 'save to pocket' button on Twitter, but it's only available on the desktop version.
Twitter on the "desktop" (I assume she means the standard website) has a "Save to Pocket" button? I'd wager that's a an add-on or extension in her browser that's putting it there, and has nothing to do with Twitter.
> Why put a 'contact me' link instead of just listing the email address? I hate when I click 'contact me' and my native mail app opens. Nobody uses thunderbird mail, apple's Mail is okay I guess, and Outlook is just...no. Type out the stupid address and let me choose how I send it.
Ummm... top right is a "contact me" mailto link.
> If you have a text-heavy site, please pick something softer than a stark white background. My eyes. They burn. If you're taking suggestions, I vote gray.
What. The background this was written on was pure white.
22 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 52.0 ms ] threadFor some sites, I've completely given up on remembering the password. I just reset it every time I have to log in.
ironically, all the sites that have mobile versions are the ones that prevent me to read them on my phone.
2. Different teams maybe? Don't necessarily see this as the designer's fault.
3. That does seem an outdated concept these days but sometimes the client wants it that way.
4. That's a marketing problem, not design.
5. That's a subjective thing that depends on many aspects of the design.
6. Because they might work for the intended audience? Kind of depends on the reasoning behind it to decide whether it was a good idea or not.
7. Believe it or not, some clients don't want to plan, or want to pay, for mobile views.
As someone who started out as a web designer that now delves more into the development side, I am often shocked at the number of designers that know little of how to design for a web browser. They know all about the rules and practices for designing for magazines, newspapers, and billboards; but nothing on designing a web page. Too many designers get through school not knowing what they are designing for when it comes to web.
The equivalent is for a print designer to design something in Illustrator for a certain size and type of paper and never actually printing the design on that paper to see how it turns out.
I'm in the school of thought that a web designer should know HTML/CSS and how browsers render those elements as a web page. They don't necessarily need front-end developer level knowledge, but if they don't at least know the basics of how browsers work then they'll always try designs that are not workable.
Personally, if I ran a web design curriculum, I would require HTML/CSS education first, then start on design. But it's often the reverse, or worse in that designers are taught all kinds of different avenues of design, but web design is that kid in the corner no one picks for dodgeball. I've interviewed many a designer with nice school projects but not one web project in the portfolio.
I agree. It's a shame Caitlin's site has mid-grey tiny fonts on a white background.
Please note the lack of an email in the top right.
3. Well that is a pretty silly quibble. You can choose how you send it: either click on it and use your default email client or right click and copy the link/email address to your clipboard and use it wherever you want. Easy peasy.
5. In my experience, designers are the only ones who actually put a softer white in their designs/pages. It's something the average developer that got stuck with doing a front-end design wouldn't do.
No. That'll get you far too much spam.
Twitter on the "desktop" (I assume she means the standard website) has a "Save to Pocket" button? I'd wager that's a an add-on or extension in her browser that's putting it there, and has nothing to do with Twitter.
Ummm... top right is a "contact me" mailto link.
> If you have a text-heavy site, please pick something softer than a stark white background. My eyes. They burn. If you're taking suggestions, I vote gray.
What. The background this was written on was pure white.