The Lowest Common Denominator
Learning about and doing web design work is proving to be much more aggravating than I had originally anticipated. I think I remember now why I’ve avoided it for so long. As if designing for compatibility between 5 major browsers and 2 major OSes is enough, we now have droves of snobby mobile device users who “demand” to have a website display properly on their tiny 3” screens. Yes, I’m looking at YOU, stuck-up iPhone/iPod/Blackberry users. If you want the website to really display properly, give me more money and I’ll style it to fit your narrow view of the world.
But what is even more aggravating than designing for the lowest common denominator for technology, is doing so for humans. And frankly, I am frikkin’ sick and tired of having to create a dumbed-down, feature-sparse website just so a handful of dinosaurs running IE 5 on Windows 98 can view it on their 800x600 resolution monitors. I think it’s time for these people to wake up and join the rest of the world in 2010, not dawdle around like it’s still 1995 (which, by the way, is equivalent to the Big Bang in internet years).
——————————————————————-
A most interesting comment came up in class today, as we were discussing how to best represent the articles in our magazine on the magazine’s website, which we were building as a class. In order to reduce clutter on the main page, we decided to display 4 or 5 “feature” articles there. And in order to give the 20 or so articles equal exposure, we decided to create copies of the main page, each with unique “feature” articles. A random copy of the pages would then be loaded each time a use visits the main page, so that the articles there are different all the time.
So at this time, one classmate brought up the concern that for certain users (aka her mom), going to the main page and seeing something different each time would totally confuse the user, so it would be better if that page was static. In all honesty, I was ready to claw someone’s face off!
——————————————————————-
To sum it all up, it’s people like that who, I feel, are holding us back as designers. There is no amount of research, creativity, and ingenuity that can account for the stupidity that is the lowest human denominator. It is essentially a bottomless pit.
What I’d really like to see it is a revolution. One where users who want to view a website properly should have at least reasonably up to date software (and/or hardware) to view it with. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for users to inconvenience themselves for 5 mins. updating their browsers, instead of designers inconveniencing themselves for 5 hours trying to get their site to load on 10 year old software.
When cell phone providers decide to upgrade their networks, do you bitch and complain and get to hold the entire company (and user base) back because your cell phone will be incompatible? No. They go ahead and upgrade their networks, and you shut up, suck it up, and buy a new phone.
So here is my memorandum to all the fossils out there. If you want to view and use my site properly, go upgrade your browsers and plugins. If you’re insistent on using IE version whatever and hate me because I didn’t design for your shitty needs, get the hell off my site! I don’t want you there anyway! And if you’re a prospective employer, especially an internet savvy design firm, and you can’t view my site properly because YOU are running IE, thank you, you’ve just saved me the pain of having to work with/for you.
