Tim Berners-Lee on Web Page Design in 1991:
August 22, 2000 12:06 PM   Subscribe

Tim Berners-Lee on Web Page Design in 1991: "Yes, Good home page design is an art..."
posted by leo (6 comments total)
 
Wow, is that the same Ed from Vacuum Weblog?
posted by mathowie at 12:22 PM on August 22, 2000


The very same.
posted by rodii at 12:31 PM on August 22, 2000


Pfffft... old timers. Not once did I hear him mention a small, 7-pixel font, motion blurred graphics of a train station, or CSS a:hover properties.
posted by kidsplateusa at 7:03 PM on August 22, 2000


Jeez. I played with WAIS around the same time (well, maybe a year or so later), but I never thought to ask TBL anything.

Not that I knew who he was, or anything.

Checking my notes ... hmm: "This WAIS would be really cool with a display protocol and some graphics. Must think on this some more."
posted by dhartung at 9:38 PM on August 22, 2000


What struck me is how he knew even then what most people doing Web design still don't get:

"Yes, Good home page design is an art -- like the cover of a magazine, or a quick-reference card. Of course it depends on the readership. The CERN home page has to start with the CERN things to minimise the number of keystokes/clicks for the largest number of users. At the same time, it needs pointers for someone with a broader interest to rapidly find a wider topic, and it has to suggest to people what is behind it so that later they will use it again on another topic. The competition for the first 24 lines is hot! I have thought of having a 'Latest additions' link, so that people who though they know the web can check for new bits."

Nine years later, firms are chasing their own tails with WAP, but still don't have the basics down.
posted by jkottke at 6:23 AM on August 23, 2000


A latest additions link? Is this the invention of the weblog, documented?!
posted by dhartung at 12:21 PM on August 24, 2000


« Older Anyone want to see the inside of a Power Mac G4...   |   iFeel your pane Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments