September 21, 2004: Difference between revisions

From Gerald R. Lucas
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{{Jt|title=Why Blog?}}
{{Jt|title=Design Philosophy}}


{{dc|W}}{{start|ell, Scribblingwoman has a fairly good answer}} for her tenure committee, with references that I’ll probably need in a couple of years—maybe even this year as I begin to get my tenure portfolio together for my third-year review. Indeed, as she points out, blogging is not considered one of the traditional activities of scholarship; however, I believe that I can communicate with many more people, not just colleagues in my field, but those who would otherwise never even see my published work. It’s part of an ongoing discussion, a way that Gary Olson used to characterize as the nature of academic writing: you do not live in a vacuum, so you must consider your publications as just a voice in a continuing scholarly conversation.
{{dc|D}}{{start|esign is about elegant simplicity.}} Good design appeals to the user’s intuition: it makes sense. The reason that everyone likes the book is that it has become naturalized, a well designed package for our knowledge. However, the book is no longer an apt symbol for information in an age of networked computers. Information design must be elegant and quick. Knowledge design—composition—isn’t just about the words, but also how those words are presented; the medieval monks knew this with their prodigious illuminated manuscripts. Yet, unlike that medieval ''zeitgeist'', techno-design is about access, not exclusion. It should be structured, but not so rigid as to not be aesthetic. Design should elicit emotion and feeling; it is never indifferent. Design speaks of functionality in its willingness to be used. Design is hands-on.


I always liked this idea, but it seems that much of that conversation that we as academics engage in is so specialized and exclusive that we end up communicating to no one but our immediate peers—what, a couple of dozen, if we’re lucky? Another aspect of the rush to publish is the fact that our work, in an effort to deliver something original enough to even be published in the glutted market, is often so rarified that anyone who does not have a Ph.D. will have an easier time winning the X-Prize than understanding what Dr. Big Brain has to say about James Joyce.
I guess the most important principles that influence my design of information, like this web site, are as follows:


Blogging also gives me a place to think about ideas. One of the great features of blogs is that mix of essays and notes, poems and scraps—bits of brain detritus that might otherwise end up gong nowhere is stored conveniently at the end of a keyword search. My blog is an extension of my brain, and the bits seem less tenuous than my aging neural links. As Scribblingwoman puts it: “weblogging is a new and developing amalgam of the scholarly and the creative.” Quite.
* Simplicity—a page should never be too crowded with information, and if it is, it should not ''look'' that way
 
* Usability—the users’ needs should be paramount
Something for tenure? Well, I guess that depends on how forward-looking your institution is. I believe that here at MSC, a school that prides itself one being a “college for the new century,” blogging will be considered scholarly work. As for other, more “traditional” institutions, I think that blogging might be scoffed at as not a true, rigorous pursuit of a real scholar. More thought on this is obviously required.
* Repetition—design elements, like headers, navigation, and white space, should be repeated and used logically on every page
* Access—all information should be accessible within two mouse clicks


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Latest revision as of 08:22, 22 March 2022

Design Philosophy

Design is about elegant simplicity. Good design appeals to the user’s intuition: it makes sense. The reason that everyone likes the book is that it has become naturalized, a well designed package for our knowledge. However, the book is no longer an apt symbol for information in an age of networked computers. Information design must be elegant and quick. Knowledge design—composition—isn’t just about the words, but also how those words are presented; the medieval monks knew this with their prodigious illuminated manuscripts. Yet, unlike that medieval zeitgeist, techno-design is about access, not exclusion. It should be structured, but not so rigid as to not be aesthetic. Design should elicit emotion and feeling; it is never indifferent. Design speaks of functionality in its willingness to be used. Design is hands-on.

I guess the most important principles that influence my design of information, like this web site, are as follows:

  • Simplicity—a page should never be too crowded with information, and if it is, it should not look that way
  • Usability—the users’ needs should be paramount
  • Repetition—design elements, like headers, navigation, and white space, should be repeated and used logically on every page
  • Access—all information should be accessible within two mouse clicks
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