Re: Skills Needed For Web Design -Reply

[Jennifer Jelinek <jlkraus -at- AMETEKWATER -dot- COM>]

Bill Sullivan wrote: 
I don't know if this applies to you personally, but I think Shriver's words  should constitute a rather useful thought for anybody so caught up in Web work that he or she forgets the importance of presenting the story properly.
I agree wholeheartedly. A solid understanding of information 
architecture and design principles are IMHO the most important 
qualities a web author should have. I'm much more apt to revisit a 
simple site that is well-organized, useful, and quick-loading than I 
am to visit a site that is jam-packed with new technology but poorly 
thought-out. I inherited a web site very much like the latter, and 
have been slowly trying to transform it into the former. Since we're 
introducing a whole new product line, I've decided to just tear down 
the whole thing and start from scratch so I can build the 
directory/organization structure from the start, rather than trying to 
impose one on a pre-existing hypertext hairball <end vent>.

 I think an effect of the proliferation of "new" technologies on the 
web is the separation of web authors into two groups...the 
writer/designers and the programmers. The line between them is 
certainly fuzzed (much like technical writing), but the distinction is 
there nonetheless. The most effective websites, I think, are 
produced by teams that combine the talents of both 
groups, or by a single person who possesses both design and 
programming talents (a rare find perhaps).    


I'm not knocking either type of web author...as the lone web author for my company with no programming background (except HTML, which really isn't programming at all), I would welcome the addition of a web author with more of a programming bent. As it is now, the IS department where I work doesn't even know how to set up/maintain a web server (we host our site with a local ISP). I talk to our part-time IS consultants when I can, but the lack of "techie" feedback is difficult at times. There's so many new technologies, and I get lost trying to understand how they all work/fit in/apply to what I'm doing. 

(Okay, now I'm REALLY done venting, I promise. OR was that 
whining? Rambling maybe? I know, I know, shut UP already).    

Cheers from Wisconsin, the land of whine and cheese,

Jennifer Jelinek
Tech Writer/Web Person
Ametek Water Filters
Jlkraus -at- ametekwater -dot- com

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