[Sigia-l] Jakob Nielsen, the John Dvorak of Design

From: Ziya Oz (listera_at_earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Aug 10 2007 - 05:15:27 EDT

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Nielsen is not a graphic designer, and he reckons that smartening it up
would put him in the middle range of site designs: "I'd be just one out of
10m. Redesigning it would take away the real value, which is that it stands
out. But I'm probably the only one who could get away with it. I wouldn't
recommend it to somebody starting out now!"

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/09/guardianweeklytechnologyse
ction.interviews>

So Nielsen acknowledges that his site is, uhm, bad. But making it better via
redesign would destroy its 'real value' which is that it stands out as being
bad. You have to admire the circular illogic of the man.

Presumably all his clients that could have benefited from a redesign --
advocated by him -- should have done nothing as that would make them stand
out as, uhm, bad.

I'm there.

(Incidentally, his site's design doesn't bother me. What's preached in there
is what I think is bonkers, like the passage above. I also sincerely hope
that the CRT from 1950s he's using in that picture is not his main set-up.)

"John Dvorak admits to baiting Mac users for hits" video:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWDYaWAVQQ>

--
Ziya
"There is something fascinating about science. One gets such a wholesale
return of conjecture for such a trifling investment of fact."
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April 10-14, 2008, Miami, Florida
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