Some Web designers operate on the
minimalist philosophy. This may largely be due to the fact that
the Internet has become an informational megasource. Also, it's
becoming more common to use various online tools and applications
to deliver that information. Minimalist pundits argue that
minimalist design is the only clear and easy way to present this
massive amount of information and function to the masses.
You can break
minimalist Web design into two categories:
- Technical construction
- Look-and-feel
Can you have a
minimalist design by using only one of the categories mentioned
above? Opinions vary, but the general consensus is yes, you can.
Can you design a site using both categories simultaneously?
Absolutely--you should strive to do so.
Technical
construction
There are
direct advantages to designing your code (e.g., DHTML, XML, and
CSS) and site structure from a minimalist point of view,
including:
- Greater accessibility for
compliant-type regulations.
- Seamless content delivery to other
types of alternative browsers and screen-readers.
- Super-fast load times.
By separating
your design from content, you can make it much easier to perform,
update, and adjust the way your site functions without starting
from scratch.
Look-and-feel
From a
look-and-feel standpoint, minimalist designers adhere to the
"less is more" philosophy. The content, rather than the
graphics, becomes the focal point.
Joshua Gooden,
creator of Tell-Me-True,
a Web-based tool that allows anonymous interaction between
friends, says he approached the construction of his project with a
minimalist view. "As an application, Tell-Me-True is
minimalist because there needed to be a focus on what the user is
trying to accomplish. The options needed to be available and
apparent at all times, or the application would fail," said
Gooden.
"User
satisfaction is highest when users don't have to guess what to
do," he continued. "We are very clear about what the
goals of the site are. . . Send anonymous questions, get answers,
and maybe find out a little about the company. There is almost no
content, and the content that is present is to reinforce the idea
of the application."
The bottom line
Modern culture
is on the verge of information overload. Soon, almost every
electronic device created will be able to access some type of
extraneous data. The question you need to ask yourself is this:
Will my information be available to those devices? Or, consider
this possibly even bigger question: Will my competitor's
information be available to those devices?
If you'd like
to see examples and read more about minimalist design, please visit
the Minimalist Web Project site.
