But content on the Internet is different depending on where, when and how it is created. Sometimes content is created purely out of the author’s need to create, express, or inform. Sometimes, it is a response and still otherwise it is a simple expression of personal opinion. What follows is a simple classification I made of the different levels of content created on the Internet. They have been classified in order of cognitive difficulty of creation/expression given that 1 is the most difficult and 3 the easiest.

Level 1: The Statement

The Statement is the first step in creating a conversation on the Internet.This might be any text we read on any website created by any author. The Statement might be a form of expression or a scientific experiment. Blog posts, articles written on Wikipedia, New York Times, ArsTechnica, images and video posted on Flickr and YouTube is an example. The Statement is the always the start of any conversation on the Internet. It is the host on which Level 2 is built.

Level 2: The Response

The next level of content creation is the addition of responses to the original content that was created on Level 1. If content on Level 1 was the start of the conversation, then content on Level 2 are the responses. These responses may again be on the form of images, video, elaborate texts or even “OMG ROFLOLZ”. Responses build the thread of a conversation together. It is also the object of creation for Level 3 content. Speaking abstractly, all Statements can also be created as response to previously perceived content and hence should be considered as Responses. However, all Statements have to created from some stimulus, hence defining the need to create or express.

Level 3: The Boolean

The simplest way of creating content for a person. A digital grunt of acknowledgement and approval or disapproval. A single value to rank a response. Whether it a like or dislike, thumbs down or up, sad emoticon or happy emoticon. The Boolean is the easiest way for us to express our opinion. It all comes down to a single value. No Blog Post. No comments. No 140 Character limit. Just a single value. The easiest way communicate. The digital equivalent of a very basic human expression. It can’t get simpler that this.

On the Internet all content is not created equal. Cognitively, it is much more difficult to compose a blog post than it is to respond with a comment. And it is much more difficult to write a response than it is to click the Like button.

Form following function

Websites shouldn’t be built without taking the time to understand the need, to do research, to analyze. Design should be broken into layers of style, content & behavior so that we can focus on each separately. Ornamentation should be well balanced with function so that it enhances the experience and not distract from it. Beautiful code & markup should be given the same respect as negative space. Task analysis and user-testing is just as important as the baseline grid.

Craftsmanship & Industry Practice

Design for the web needs a revival of an honesty & truth to the material from which it is constructed, the pixel. Decorative devices like cup stains, scribble fonts and pins on paper disguise the nature of the machine. We need to acknowledge the problems & limitations of the computer, but also recognize how it can be used for our benefit. We should create usable, easily understood interfaces within the machine environment. We should encourage documentation and meet the deadline. Respect the contract. No free pitches.

Systems & Standards

We should follow, adopt or create standards for the web whenever we can. We should use interface patterns and templates to offer more manageable ways of arranging content for clients. We should embrace modular systems that encourage new and creative implementations. Display systems should have logical as well as creative justifications. We need to test our interfaces with real users and iterate quickly.

Economy & Simplicity

Accessibility and usability should be at the centre of decision-making. We should try to construct relevant meaning without confusing the user. Just because we have a million colors to play with doesn’t mean we should. We need new approaches to design that rejects old styles in search of new ones that are more expressive of our time.

Education & Experience

This is a relatively new profession. We should be prepared for changes. We should be well-educated, flexible and experienced. We need to be specialized. We need to know the elements of design and their underlying logic and how they apply to the web. We should understand the difference between presentation logic and business logic.

Research

We should study the nature of objects before designing them. Only by constantly evolving, learning new techniques, new processes, and discovering new ways of putting things together can we create a mature design. We need to understand that the website is not a business card, book, brochure or poster. We need to learn from the scientific theories of human-computer interaction to study the way users and communities engage with the web.

The thumbnails in order of appearance are: the conference poster, the event schedule, the cards for the design competition and the t-shirt for the event. The posters were printed digitally on 300gsm matte paper.

I had a huge amount of fun organising this conference with Gaurang Gupta, Sangeeta Balasubramani, Saneef Ansari, Arun Ganesh & all the other student volunteers.

This project was selected for presentation and display at Vision Plus 2010, the international conference on information Design.

The bazaar is a hodgepodge of products from food to electronics. The layout is more often than not confusing  and visitors are bombarded with so many noises and cries from vendors that it is surprising how a purchase decision is made.

The mall seems to be exactly the opposite. You have signposts and maps telling you where to find whatever you might be looking to purchase. Attendants in the aisles will help you find a product that you are searching for. Muzak is playing in the background and just in case you do let your mind wander, you will be greeted with an advertising message.

These elements mentioned above are what we expect to see in a bazaar or department store. They are not hard to spot and as users we also expect to find these things in their respective environments.

The point of this comparison is that even though the bazaar and the mall perform the same function, the user experience of both are worlds apart. In case of the mall, the elements of user experience, the singboards, attendants and muzac, don’t serve an essential function to the retail process. Like the bazaar, they do not require active design in any sense. Yet, if we enter any retail store, the lack of these will make us uncomfortable just as the lack of hawking wares or the noise of haggling in a bazaar will be just as uncomfortable.

I’m really saying two things here:

1. Our picture of a good, contemporary retail store is defined largly by society and trends. This trend has been arrived at by an iterative design process. Each signboard, attendant and promotion stall has been placed at a specific location with a specific intention. On the other hand, as far as I know, no bazaar has ever been designed per se. It has grown and adapted to accommodate it’s users and merchants.

2. The elements that I am highlighting make what we refer to as the “ambience” of a place. What designers would call the ambient user experience.  An ambient user experience is what people experience while they are getting things done. Providing a good experience means incorporating elements of ambience. We should align these elements with our users’ expectations.

Pic: Crawford Market by superfamous

“‘…’Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

In 1958, Charles and Ray Eames — in The India Report — say while comparing a ‘Lota’ to the attitude that they hoped would be created by the National Institute of Design,

“… an attitude be generated that will appraise and solve the problems of our coming times with the same tremendous service, dignity and love that the Lota served its time.”

Both these quotes speak of love for others. You can love someone only if you know them.

Love thy user. Know thy user.

Your users are almost never like you. They don’t think like you. You know your product inside-out. You created it and were with it through every iteration. You decided how it would behave at every phase. But your users might be seeing it for the first time. They might be using it to accomplish a set of goals. They might have to use your product under peculiar conditions. They might just be poking around to see if it’s fun to play with.

Knowing your user will help you predict how they will behave. You won’t have to take design decisions based on your subjective preference. Knowing your user is important because it might reveal incorrect assumptions that you might have made. Knowing your users will give you insights into how they behave and where or when they struggle to get to an objective.

Charles Eames once told Ashoke Chatterjee — a former director of NID — that love is seeing the world through another persons eyes. Look through your users’ eyes to see what they need. This will allow you to create a product that not only empowers them but also attracts and captivates them.

Symbol

Is a means of representing any object, any person, any idea or situation with some type of mark.

Component

Is not just a part of a whole. It is a part of a whole which cannot be taken  away without changing the very nature of of the whole.

Complex

It comes from the Latin word embrace. Complex is not complicated. It is not the opposite of simple. Complicated has a quality of confusion to it. A complex thing might have many parts but would still posses orderliness. A complex thing may or may not be difficult to comprehend.

System

It comes from the Greek word sustema. A system is a complex whole of parts. These parts are related although the connections between them may or may not be visible. To understand a system, one should get a holistic view of the system and not should observe the way in which each parts affect each other in isolation from the system.

Structure

It is the arrangement of parts. It is also the manner in which they are arranged. Parts interconnect and interelate in order to make the structure work.

Form & Shape

All shapes are forms but not all forms are shapes. The difference being that shape is used for what is known and form is used for all types of figures – familiar or unfamiliar.

Display

Display means an arrangement of things or images so that they are deliberately presented in a way that it gets noticed. Display also refers to that part of the machine that must be watched, so that it can be controlled based on the information received from it.

I have knowingly not used design or art in any definition.  You may or may not agree with some of my definitions. They are always open to discussion.

In the language of design, the syntax is the overall structure of a product. In graphic design, it is the grid, the typography, the imagery.

Syntactics is also the name of the WordPress theme used on this site.

My reasons and objectives for this design:

• Because the internet has too many links.
• Because I’m O.C.D. (aren’t we all?)
• Because rules should dictate what a design should do. More broader the rules, the more concise and hence, better the result.
• I believe in minimum contrast with maximum clarity
• I believe in as little disturbance as possible, pushing white space around until  it fits where I want it to be.
• I believe in imperfection
• I believe in perfection through imperfection. Because we are never right the first time
• I like color, but not too much.
• I believe in art, I may not like it.