Think about the art of interpersonal communication. Having a conversation on the telephone is considerably more difficult than a face-to-face interaction, because contextual clues like expression, gesture, and body language are lacking. We've adapted over time and developed new techniques for communicating via the phone. But if you change the medium slightly - like conference calls, for example - the context often fails to map accordingly. Put a dozen people in as many different locations, and you'll have painfully intense proof. Everyone starts talking at once, then they languish through a pregnant pause, and then the cycle repeats again. Email takes us a step further away from personal context. Plain ASCII text combined with the immediacy of online communication removes even the clues of vocal inflection that are detectable over the phone.
Compare that to the difference between the printed page and a Web site. Online designers lack the contextual clues inherent in a traditional publication. When you pick up a magazine, you immediately know how to use it. It has a front, a back, a table of contents, and stories. But what can we tell about a Web site on first visit? Are there two more pages, or 2,000? The context inherent to print publications is gone.
Communication in any medium depends on these subtle contextual clues to help convey meaning as clearly and simply as possible. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words, and a well-chosen design element can be worth many more. But it's the designer's responsibility to provide them, and not leave readers dangling.
HotWired makes use of cultural context on our splash pages. Each day, a new introductory animation leads to our homepage, focusing attention on our featured content. Along with that animation, the designer also adds the HotWired logo with a small arrow pointing to the right. Why to the right? Because in our culture, that means "next." An arrow to the left would mean "back." What would a down arrow mean? Or an up arrow? I'm not sure.
That tiny arrow, which only takes up a few pixels, relieves us of having to explain to users that if they want to jump past the animation into HotWired's Web site, they should click the link signified by the logo. It simplifies the pages, gives clarity to a navigational dilemma, and works as a successful design.
The point, after all, is to keep readers focused on reading content, not trying to find it.
