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Reinventing Web Design: Why Not?
StumbleUponThe urge to bland-out designs and produce 'look-a-like' sites is part of a wider trend of the web gone stale. With new innovations such as blogs breaking free of the shackles, is it time for corporate sites go back to the drawing board wonders Marc Pinter-Krainer...
The urge to bland-out designs and produce
'look-a-like' sites is a part of a wider trend of the
web going stale. With new innovations such as blogs breaking
free of the shackles, should corporate sites go back to the
drawing board?
By Marc Pinter-Krainer
[Register and post your own comments
on this article below...]
Can you imagine a time before the Web existed, now that it's
such a firm fixture in business and personal life? Fancy trying
to live without email and Google, let alone all your favourite
news, shopping and travel sites. Unthinkable!
It's even more unimaginable for people in their 20s
who've grown up using the internet, and barely remember what
it's like to use hard copy reference books, let alone pop
along to their local lending library.
Those with longer memories will be familiar with the time when a
company or organisation having set up its own website was
actually hot news. Even the City and business sections of the
broadsheets thought it worthy of a few lines to say that
Barclays or BP had joined the online revolution.
Marvels of the 90's now old hat
Of course, the dot com bubble has been and gone, but right now
there is a whiff of 1999/2000 in the air. There has been a
resurgence in interest in web-based companies. This interest has
been fuelled by the meteoric rise of pure dot coms like Google,
and the entry into the FTSE 100 by Party Gaming, the company
that runs the world's most popular poker site.
But has the Web become a shade too familiar? Are we now a bit
blasé about its marvels and have we become a bit too
conservative about it? Certainly this seems to be the case for a
lot of companies.
Private individuals rather than companies are breaking the new
ground. Some of the really exciting sites are web logs - or
blogs to use the vernacular - mini-sites used by frankly
egocentric individuals to record their daily thoughts and
activities.
Blogs with attitude crash the cynicism
barrier
Although the quality of blogs varies enormously, many are far
more creative in their style and content, because they are freed
from the shackles of corporate uniformity. And probably more
importantly, they feel fresh and exciting, completely in line
with the times. In truth, you just don't know what you are
going to find on blogs, which adds to their appeal.
On the other hand, any company or large organisation's
website is almost inevitably going to have a rather similar
'look and feel'. It will have a standard menu bar,
usually at the top of the screen, and then pages devoted to
services, staff, a press room, and contacts for more
information. If it's a publicly-quoted company, there will
be information geared for investors, such as stock exchange
releases, a share price graph and usually links to its main
financial advisers.
Don't get me wrong. Using predictable navigation formats is
very helpful for users. For efficiency's sake, people
welcome a consistent approach to information presentation.
No-one opening a dictionary would expect to find words beginning
with A at the back, for example. Conventions become established
because they tend to make sound sense.
Yet it is the mavericks, the rule breakers, the pioneers who get
our attention and our support. The public warms much more to
Richard Branson types who are prepared to have some fun, take
risks and not be too "corporate."
Uniformity imposed from above...
The Web is an immensely flexible environment, so why not make
more imaginative use of it? This doesn't mean using gimmicky
graphics and pointless sound effects; people tire waiting to
gain entry into websites while Flash spends 30 seconds going
through its paces.
What people want is information that really reflects the true
nature of the company or organisation they might be dealing
with.
According to a recent study by Legal IT magazine, the website of
one of the UK's largest law practices was ineffective in
describing "…the true persona of the firm … even when the
digging goes a little deeper."
...Personalities & diversity crushed beneath
By adopting a common approach to web design and content, the
site imposes uniformity on the firm, and almost certainly on the
people who work for it, that doesn't reflect its interesting
diversity.
When pitching for new business, most firms spend quite a bit of
time trying to point out how they differ from their competitors.
But when a prospective customer checks out the website, all too
often it looks just like its rivals'. The language, that
stilted corporate-speak riddled with jargon, will soon tell a
new client that they are exactly the same as everyone else. In
just a few seconds, the effort by the pitch team to
differentiate itself is undone by the standardised blurb on the
site.
This tendency to copy competitors or run with the pack occurs
all too frequently. Partly the fault lies with the company,
partly with website designers, who tend to sell tweaked versions
of the same site to different clients because it's cheaper
for them and involves less effort. With a conservative company
and a lazy web designer working together, the result is a
classic case of the bland leading the bland, turning out dull
websites that are only useful for curing insomnia.
Basic commitment to updating content still lacking
Users want attractive websites that are interesting to look at,
and just as importantly, they want up to date information. Even
some of Britain's larger firms have parts of their websites,
including the newsroom, which are months out of date. According
to anecdotal evidence, over 80% of websites contain old or
inaccurate information, while Forrester Research has reported
that 60% of webmasters say "keeping content up to
date" is their biggest concern.
This is really not good enough. Now that updating sites is
getting simpler and is no longer a dark art understood only by
the webmaster, most organisations should be on top of
this.
With oil prices currently hovering around $70 a barrel with the
potential to go even higher, the cost of moving goods and people
is going to rise, adding to the cost of production.
If a company could do online what it currently does outside of
cyberspace, it has the chance to make some decent cost
savings.
Therefore, right now is as good a time as any for companies to
review their web operations, and to make sure their websites are
fully up to date, stand out from the crowd, and describe
accurately and interestingly their services.
About the Author:
Marc Pinter-Krainer is Chief Executive of Knowledge
Technology Solutions PLC, a publisher of internet-delivered
software.
The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee.
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