To The Reader’s Forum:

It’s been so long since I’ve seen a well-designed website, I don’t even remember that day. Most are cluttered and complex and show little sensitivity to the user interface or user experience. I often have to hunt for buttons or links that allow me to do the simplest things, but if the sites were designed properly, those tasks would be intuitive and seamless.

In the designed world, there are two essential principles that are universal: “Less is more”, and “form follows function”. But I see little evidence of those in the design of websites.

Everyone wants to save a few bucks, so it’s often the case that technicians “design” websites rather that competent, skilled graphic designers. Would you hire a shade-tree mechanic to repair your expensive, new automobile? I didn’t think so.

Graphic design has always been hampered by amateurs with no education in that subject who simply buy a computer and then hang a shingle on their door that proclaims they’re a graphic designer. Would it be reasonable for a butcher to also say he/she is a surgeon? They could cut some nice T-bones on Monday, and then perform open-heart surgery on Tuesday. That analogy is exactly what we’re facing when it comes to web design.

In the early 1990s, The Graphic Design Educator’s Association published a white paper that insisted all graphic designers should be licensed the same way architects are. But amateurs were fearful for their livelihoods and rebelled strongly against that initiative. To the extent that a long-overdue proposal was abandoned.

When it comes to any profession, only professionals should do the work involved. Anything less is a cheap, cowardly way to solve a problem. But we live in a nation of cowards who only care about money. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for”

Craig Malmrose

North Carolina

Formerly of Bemus Point