Design from the inside out
Too often web sites are designed from the top down. The designer surveys organization's identity, ponders the information architecture, and dives right in... to the home page. Looking at sites from YouTube to CNN we learn that there is a better way.
Starting with the home page is a passable solution for most static content sites but just isn't workable for sites that bubble over with fresh content and user participation. Consider YouTube. Contrast how often you find yourself visiting the home page with how often you follow links directly to an individual video page. These pages are devoted to a single content element but contain so much more. Because YouTube understands that these pages represent the entrance point, they design them to invite you to explore more videos on the site, all without ever needing to visit a page that isn't for an individual video.
But we're not all designing video sharing web sites. Most sites still tend to be about communicating basic content. Organizations want to tell the world who they are or they want to provide easy access to the important information in their possession. These sites have the most to learn from this approach. Too often you get a link deep into a site. You click around and end up at a home page designed with exponentially more effort than the page you saw when you first arrived.
This is most evident on news web sites. As a blog reader, my interactions with professional news organizations is mediated by a filter. I follow links from my RSS reader directly to stories. In recent months, I've noticed that news organizations are starting to learn from YouTube. No site does a better job at this than the new CNN beta design.
This design presents a clear emphasis hierarchy to the reader. The title is presented first in strong black text generously padded with white space. The content that follows dominates the design and is interspersed with links to content that directly relates to the story. Other links, to popular articles and whatnot, are presented in the secondary content area.
I the clearly delineated layout the most. Context specific links are presented inside the body of the story. The body of text is followed by comments on the story and trackbacks to blogs that mentioned the story. Back at the top I am even prompted to learn about the story through another medium. If there is a video, interactive, or photo component I can switch without leaving the context of the story. Only once is the flow interrupted by an advertisement. Instead, advertising is kept to the secondary column with other sitewide links.
I view this design as a success because it is clearly focussed on what matters. I am visiting this page to read this article. CNN wants me to click to other things. They want me to click on ads. They want me to click to more pages and then click on ads there too. Yet they exercise restraint understanding that if I am prevented from reading the article, from accomplishing my goal, I won't care that they have a public commenting system, links to related content, and an ad for Andersen Cooper 360.
Thinking about all of this makes me want to start my next project from the inside out. By understanding the demands your content place on the design, I will be better able to create a home page that acts as an actual gateway to my well designed content instead of just putting lipstick on a hog.
So tell me: how do you do it? Do you start with the home page? Does this tend to work for you or do you prefer to design from the inside out? Do you find that clients understand this approach?
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