Today I'm starting a series of posts
on what is missing from most website design today. Meaning.
When I speak on introductory design, or "Design for Developers" at
conferences like CFUnited, I frequently mention the word connotation.
Why is connotation so important? In a field where we so often speak of
simplicity as a virtue, we often overlook the fact that the human mind was
meant for more than just the obvious display of facts.
Sometimes, the goal is to convey a deeper analysis of information, sometimes it
is to convey a sense of emotion...or perhaps, both.
So, to spark a deeper discussion about the merits of complexity, let's start
with Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
The Taxonomy was intended as a method for analyzing and improving educational
method, but it is a useful tool for measuring and improving communications of
all kinds.
Bloom divides his taxonomy into three sections: affective, cognitive and
psychomotor. We'll avoid the psychos for now and focus primarily on
the affective and cognitive hierarchies.
The affective hierarchy applies directly to front-end design, while the
cognitive hierarchy can be applied to application interface design.
In my next entry, I'll discuss the affective heirarchy, and how it equates to the art and science of web design.
Again, this is not something you hear every day in our line of work, but I think you'll eventually agree. There is something to be said for this learning stuff. After all, what else are websites for, but educating your audience/users?
