ReUSEIT Entries on Display
53 entries have been submitted to the ReUSEIT contest.
After a first look, I don't really have a clear favorite, although a few highlights can be noted. At the same time, I have to say that I was expecting a lot more (or a lot less in some cases).
One possible explanation might be that some of the best designers are judging rather than designing this time.
Regardless of which, it is interesting to see the variety of approaches, styles, and designs represented. And perhaps a closer look will reveal those subtle values I initially missed.
In any case, Bob Sawyer has done an excellent job in putting it all together, including informing, backend programming, and showcasing the entries. Congrats Bob!
A Hazy Shade of Yellow will be detailed in a coming post.
Minz Meyer
Comment on November 6, 2003 at 8:27 am
The true power of your design is really in the code I think, as it can be seen when turning off the styles or using Opera's Small Rendering.
I really liked the way you provided skip links and additional navigation using the
linkelement.Great job, anyway
Lars Holst
Comment on November 6, 2003 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the kind words Minz. Yes, I am rather pleased with the usability and accessibility aspects of the design, but it doesn't really look that spiffy.
This was intentional though. I decided early on that I would try to honor as many of Jakob Nielsen's "mantras" as possible, partly out of respect for his message (which I do not always agree with, but that is beside the point I think), partly because I kinda like the hardcore/retro sort of style of the original site, and partly because anything else would mean too much of a deviation from the original design. This last point is important: with 200,000+ readers every month, he has to be doing something right. Or?
To be honest, though, it proved quite a challenge to try and blend all three aspects - accessibility, usability, looks - and that, I think, was the whole point of the contest.
Still, what surprizes me about some of the submissions is how little they reflect any of the values that useit.com represents. For instance, I strongly doubt that JN would approve of links being anything else than blue and underlined, at least on his own personal site. And that is just one example (font sizing, excessive use of graphics, low contrast are others). On the other hand, this is just one personal opinion of many. The way the contest was set up (rather loose guidelines, no precise specifications) left a lot of room for individual interpretations, which has also made it really interesting.