Scrivs wrote a great article on Drawar highlighting some fallacies in the
original article on Smashing Magazine. I think he sums up the “You’re just a
Web designer” issue well:
“You can’t get caught up in the term “Web designer,” because if you do
then you are taking away the idea that a great designer can’t learn how
to translate his skills to another platform. If we are designing applications
that slurp content off the Internet to present to a user, then soon we will
all be Internet designers. That removes the Web designer burden and
changes things a bit.”Content Has Long Been The Undisputed King
Let’s make something very, very clear. Good Web designers know that their
job is to present content in the best way possible. Period. Bad content on a
beautiful website might hold a user’s interest for a few moments, but it
won’t translate into success for the website... unless you run CSS Zen
Garden.
In her article, Cameron gets it half right when she says:
“As long as the design doesn’t give [the user] a headache or interfere with
their ability to find what they want, they don’t really care how exactly it
looks like or how exactly it is working.”I agree. The user is after content, not your gradient-laden design and CSS3
hover effects. Your job is to get them there as painlessly as possible. At the
same time, great design can enhance content and take a website to the
next level. Great design not only gives a website credibility, but it can lead
to a better experience. Mediocre design and great content lose out every
time to great design and great content. It just makes for a better overall
experience, where content and design both play a role.