Thursday, May 8, 2008

Designing for the Web Vs Print

Jacob Nielsen(1999) argues that blogs are often too internally focussed and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author. He notes that many existing web documents can be printed out and function just as well. Shriver(1997) shares the same sentiment and stated that better technology does not necessarily equate to better communication. Designers should resist the urge to 'romance the screen' and focus more on its readers. Just let the pictures do the talking.





Online edition of The Star Newspaper


The Print edition of The Star Newspaper

The most obvious difference between print and web is the text placement. Jacob Nielsen(1999) also emphasises the importance of a web document to be concise, scannable and objective. I agree whole-heartedly with Nielsen as readers usually skim through web documents. Besides that, reading a print document would be much easier on the eyes.

References

Nielsen,J 1999,Jakob Nielsen interview, Jupitermedia Corporation, viewed on 9 May 2008, at http://webreference.com/new/nielsen.html

Schriver, K.A. 1997, Interplay of Words and Pictures: Dynamic in Document Design, New York.

My 2 cents worth by at

1 comment:

Oliver said...

I still prefer a newspaper in print. I'd only read the one on the internet if I couldn't get the print one, had no time to read it, lost it or was desperately searching for updated information (like who won the election) hahaha~ =)

May 9, 2008 at 8:30 AM

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