Comments on: I’ve seen it all before.

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:53:45 +0000

Hi, thanks for this post. Its really opened my eyes to just how similar the web is – and that I’ve started thinking that the 3 row site is the ‘correct’ way to design.

On the other hand, I do love how its set a higher standard for many sites that would normally be unusable and look crap!

By: Tweets that mention I’ve seen it all before. - Purpleurbia.com -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention I’ve seen it all before. - Purpleurbia.com -- Topsy.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:38:57 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cathy Matheny and Purpleurbia, Purpleurbia. Purpleurbia said: I've seen it all before : commentary on (a lack of) originality in web design http://bit.ly/4tUmVe [...]

By: SolidShops

SolidShops — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:45:45 +0000

Hi Mary, none taken dont worry! . I just tried motivating some of our early design decisions. Keep up the great blog and oh yeah: the analog website is indeed brilliant!

By: mary fran

mary fran — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:25:23 +0000

And it is effective!

I wasn’t saying it is bad at all! Just conventional, and I know sometimes that is the best choice. I tried to pick all sites that overall looked good, but had elements that are starting to over take modern web design.

You just happen to have a site that looks good and uses one of the layouts that I see most often. So, sorry if I offended you! That wasn’t my intention!

By: SolidShops

SolidShops — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:12:11 +0000

Hi Mary,

I understand your blog post and you sure are right on some points. For our start-up SolidShops.com we had to strike a balance between being original and using recognizable elements that our users can easily use.

Depending on the audience we would go for originality, e.g. a restaurant that needs a new and especially original layout.

In the case of SolidShops.com we tested several designs and design elements where this version clearly scored higher on conversions, and in the end, isn’t that what matters?

If we kept our other design that was way more original (but less usable/recognizable) just for the case of being original, SolidShops certainly wouldn’t be as successful when we’d be looking at conversion rates.

For Solidshops.com our goal was clear: get clients to use our application and to make sure that they can use it without breaking a sweat.

Webdesign is art, but it doesn’t stop there. Just our 2 cents…

Cold greetings from Belgium!
Jorre – SolidShops.com