Defending Design – Why a designed website?

Maybe its time we changed the terminology. The phrase “Web design” is so notoriously misunderstood. For that matter the word design is misunderstood.

Its not about being pretty.

It’s that ah. . . feeling when you arrive at your destination and everything is clear. Someone has thought about whether you tend toward edgy or conservative. They know what you want and they have placed a nice big link right there smack where you will find it. They probably know what browser you are most likely to have and have taken steps to ensure everything works properly. Care has been taken not to offend your culture if you are a likely visitor or user.

And continuing on. They know what else you are probably looked at – what other related sites you are apt to visit. Care has been taken to raise the bar and to offer a better experience than you probably had at the competitor’s web site.

Better yet – you found it. That’s probably not an accident.

And perhaps its really really beautiful too.