The Foundations of Web Page Design
Lesson 1
by Jeffrey Veen
Page 3 — An Approach: The Library and the Gallery
The balance between form and function in Web page design isn't just limited to the development of the medium's technology - it makes a great model for how you approach the problems of designing your own site.
One way to formulate a web page design philosophy is to think of Web sites as lining up on a continuum between a library and gallery. A library's sole intent is to take inquisitive people to the information they are seeking with as little effort as possible. A gallery offers similar amounts of information, but through a much more experiential path. Maybe a better analogy would be an art gallery and a poster shop, where the same information - framed images - is organized and displayed in ways that perfectly suit the needs of each audience.
Imagine if the Yahoo Web site were structured like the game Myst, in which the thousands of site listings were hidden behind layers of mystery, requiring exploration to find them. This would be fun as an exercise in alternative information display, sure, but rather annoying when you need to find that site devoted to, say, cyclocross racing in Santa Cruz.
Yahoo, a structural and hierarchical library of information.
Conversely, if a site like the experimental jodi.org were clearly constructed for the efficient consumption of information, none of the original content would be left. Would this site work if the pages were grouped by subject, or listed alphabetically? What if a powerful search engine were employed? What would you search for? The beauty of a site like jodi.org is in the experience of finding and enjoying its many hidden surprises and the underlying aesthetic.
Jodi.org, a Web gallery - the other end of the continuum.
Clearly, these are extremes. But the point remains that presentation of information must adhere to its structure - form must follow function - for a Web page design to be considered successful.
