usability vs. graphic design

The war between usability experts and graphic designers never really occurred to me until the blog topic came about. It is defiantly a legitimate argument between the two sides. This article expresses both sides quite clearly and equally. The usability experts feel that the web is an “ill used database.” It is in need of sites that have speedy downloads and are okay to be text based. Graphic designers on the other hand feel that the web is an “ill used platform.” They feel that design is necessary are else sites would just be text plans.

While I was reading this I knew that I would need to form some opinion to write about and try to choose one of the sides to agree with. In all honestly I would read a paragraph, feel like I knew which side I agreed with, read the next paragraph, and then chose the other side.

Being a graphic design major it seems that I should defiantly chose the graphic design side. I would be a trader to my future career. But one of the things that I have been taught in my graphic design classes it’s the importance to be clear and communicate a message through design. It is our responsibility as the designer to create a clear and understandable forum for a viewer to navigate. This is usability. Usability experts want quick and “easy to understand” sites. The graphic designer is using this concept in all of his/her designs. I guess what I am ultimately getting to is that usability is the foundation and form with which a graphic designer designs. It seems obvious that the two rely on each other to create an impressive site. No one would use a site they were unable to easily move through. On the other hand there is no attraction to the site without visual aesthetics.