The internet is a beautiful place

I'm not sure if anyone else saw this post over at ReadWriteWeb. If not, you should give it a gander.

It occurs to me that this reveals something that we as designers and developers need to be reminded of from time to time. The internet is big, (like really, really big) and inherently unfamiliar, with a constantly changing map and unreliable landmarks.

I am reminded of a project I worked on, designing a food-related tool for the Japanese market. When creating a tool for a particular market, it's always important to understand both the physical and intellectual environment that the tool will be used in. I designed a collapsible bento box that can be stored in its wrapper, hung up on a wall. Does this product make sense in Agrestic, CA? Not at all, but for a Tokyo apartment, you bet!



The meaningful bit here is that when designing for the web, we sometimes become so focused on designing and developing for ourselves, or for early adopters, that we forget what happens when someone navigates by landmark. It's a shift from the intellectual environment that we expect. Take this map from Ryuch on Wikimedia Commons:

If the terrain of the Zhongshan Scenic area is unfamiliar to you, the landmarks are given helpful visual references. In other words, if you're trying to get to the big blue and white building at the center of the map, and you aren't seeing it, you're clearly not in the right place.

What does this have to do with the frustrated folks at ReadWriteWeb? I really think there are two things at play here. One being the intellectual environment of the user (which we can't control) and one being the information that we give to the user. We can't control the way that people navigate the web, but we can give them better (or at least more consistent) landmarks to go by.

Let's consider the most popular websites to be landmarks for the web: Google, YouTube, Facebook, MSN, Twitter, eBay, Hotmail, CNN, AOL. (I'm not including any porn here, sorry folks). What happens when the facade of these services changes? For those of us who are web savvy, we take a look at the URL, assure ourselves it was just another re-design, grumble about the old light bulb being so much better, and go on our merry way. What about those people that know where they are in downtown Brooklyn by finding the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower? Confusion! Chaos! Frustration! (These, by the way, are the people who are still using IE 6, not because of laziness, but because of comfort.) I think it's easy for us to laugh at these clueless rubes who can't seem to figure out that ReadWriteWeb isn't Facebook, but really, how are they supposed to know the difference? They're navigating still unfamiliar waters, taking the long way around because it's what they know, and the don't particularly care that there's a more efficient way.

The lesson here? Sure, make improvements, but what's wrong with sticking to familiar interfaces? Users don't like change, so make little changes on a regular basis. The older I get the more I admire the design that is taken for granted.