Datasheet

DISTINCTIVE DESIGN
6
Time, space, and relativity
Understanding the needs of your content is central to the concept of distinctive design,
but the user experience demands more than simple information visibility. Although an
inanimate object, your content has a few primary needs that must be accounted for in the
overall layout, such as visibility and accessibility. Many variables can a ect the duration
and extent of a visitor’s experience, and while some of these are more imposing than oth-
ers, such as pesky browser bugs and page availability, some can be tied into human per-
ceptions and the amount of resources or self-sacri ce web professionals choose to assign
to a service.
Time, space, relativity, and other variables speak volumes to the  nite resources humans
often temporarily assign to a site for the duration of their stay. Each variable ties deeply
into the other because they are often measured upon the perception of whether the e ort
exerted by visitors matches the importance level of other events going on around them.
Check out this list of  nite resources:
> Time:  ere’s only 24 hours in a day, and users rarely spend all of those browsing a
single site. How much of this precious resource a visitor uses on your site depends
on the value of the content.
> Space:  e freedom to browse a site without inhibition is important to the overall
user experience. If users feel restricted or forced into jumping through unnecessary
hoops, they may exit!
> Relativity:  e relationship between content and sites is important to the web. If a
site’s content connects to a concept or subject introduced by another site, it may
gain added attention.
> Money: Services with de ned costs have to work even harder than free or ad-
supported sites for attention. Since the content is provided behind a “paywall”,
money is needed to gain visibility.
Important
Remember that feedback is quite subjective (and should be taken with a grain of
salt). Don’t implement changes that users request on a whim without a good
reason. Some things can actually make a design worse, and the last thing you
want to do is destroy all your hard work!
05_9781119992981-ch01.indd 605_9781119992981-ch01.indd 6 5/13/11 2:12 PM5/13/11 2:12 PM