Old Loft

I was maybe 12-13 years old when I first started designing websites… Although “designing” is a major overstatement here. It all started when a friend of mine showed me some of his designs. Being a kid, I got hooked immediately and assumed that it must be as easy as pie and I’ll be able to create something on my own in a flash…

- Tell me, what program did you use to create this?
- Photoshop
- Ooo! That’s awesome; I’ll google it right away.

…after couple minutes…
- Hmm… Paint Shop Pro? I guess that was it! Downloading…

And that was the first mistake I made as a web designer – I started off with the wrong software (though it is true that you can do wonders using Paint Shop Pro). But I’ve been living in ignorance for almost half a year, thinking that I’ve already mastered the famous Photoshop. Anyway… The thing I wanted to write about is related to another mistake I made in life (but bear in mind that I was just a young snot back then) – namely, my first website:) A friend from school, who’s now a great web administrator, told me that he wants to set up a server on his home PC. And he did just that. It’s probably not worth mentioning that the sever only operated for 2 hours a day, because the friend’s parents limited his access to the computer. I was still excited as hell and thought that since I won’t be limited to using a free hosting server, which only gives me 10MB of space, I’d be able to create an insanely huge web portal that would include everything…

“EVERYTHING AND NOTHING…”

Obviously, the website had to be shut down after several days, but my idea was clear – to create a place that would contain ever little bit of the Internet: a download section with any possible program, news from around the world and from my country (collected, let’s be honest, from some other web portal ;)), the weather report, a watch, and even an on-line cinema (I remember that I actually uploaded a movie to one of the subpages… that’s right, a full feature film)… I’ve created a hideously blue design with my picture in the header and a sign “EVERYTHING AND NOTHING…” (there was also a slogan, but it was so stupid that I’m ashamed to even quote it).

And that exactly was my mistake… I wanted to create a utopia, a combination of Facebook, Yahoo, CNN, YouTube, Flickr and several other web portals and I also wanted to expand their functionality to the level of NASA space shuttles… Everything, of course, using free DHTML scripts ;) And this functionality is precisely what I’d like to talk about…

I made my mistake when I was a dozen or so years old. But I see the same mistake being made today in serious web applications, which are created by mature people, often employed by designing studios or large companies that deal in web designing… Unfortunately, the thing that’s “in” today is simplicity. This is what guarantees success…

And when I say “simplicity” I mean adding only those functions, which are really necessary. It’s ridiculous that in one of the Ford models you have so many gadgets that it makes NASA shuttles look obsolete. While such well-known companies as Bentley or Ferrari only include what is absolutely necessary in the car’s interior. They are well aware of their target group and its expectations. One of the Ferrari models (as far as I remember) doesn’t even have an air-conditioner as part of the standard equipment… But why would you need air-conditioning if you only bought the car so that you could cruise along German or Italian freeways or drive up to a club and show off?

Where did I get the idea for this entry? Well, a couple of days ago I’ve seen an app called Ketchup (http://useketchup.com) – used for managing your meetings. In terms of design – it’s pretty good, though you could maybe point out some minor flaws. But in terms of usability and functionality… it’s simply incredible… The creators only included the key functions, because who would need more? Maximum simplicity that led to success – the application already got mentioned on several more or less popular blogs and web portals… I think that it already has a dedicated user base and I’m not surprised… it’s got everything what’s needed to attract new users. In order to introduce new functions, which nowadays are usually added right from the start, you first need to wait and get some user feedback. And then only add such elements, which the users demand. Why would you add more? That’s just a waste of time and, as a result, a waste of money…

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