Ask HN: Why most of the great websites are so simple design-wise?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1902788

by gsivil • 16 years ago

1 8 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I have noticed a huge number of posts concerning the aesthetics and the design of websites and web-apps.

At the same time when I think about most of the big websites of our times(or the websites that I spend most of my time during the day) I observe simplicity or even over-simplicity in the layout and the design:

- Google ( the main page cannot get simpler than that)

- Facebook (blue and white in boxes, I am exaggerating a bit here)

- Craigslist (no comment here!)

- Ebay

- Scientific Journals

- Hacker News

- Gmail ( not a wwebsite in the standard use but still minimal in the design, even when it offers themes I tend to choose the simplest one)

- Banks

The list is really long

What do you think about that? Is there really a pattern(not a recipe) here?

jamesbritt• 16 years ago

You'll have to define "simple" because there's just too much variety in the sites listed. I don't find Facebook's design simple by any means. That doesn't mean it's ugly or unusable, but it has much more going on, requiring much more deliberate action on my part, than the Google search page, or HN.

And HN is simple in some ways, but not others. Why, for example, if I want to see my own comments, do I have to click "threads", not "comments"?

gsivil3• 16 years ago

Simple in the sense of interface and layout, not so much in the sense of possibilities. If for example you try to make a new profile in Facebook you will see how simple the template is.

Design from the artistic or decorative point of view is almost zero for all these sites or at least does not come on your way as a user.

olalonde• 16 years ago

It's a consequence of trying to minimize cognitive load[1].

Edit: Please let me know what's your bank!

[1] http://www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary/cognitive-load/

ucheokeke• 16 years ago

That's probably because flashy websites distract you from the content. Most of the websites you listed are content heavy, and although some of them could use a facelift(ex:craigslist), their design doesn't overshadow the information that's displayed.

zeemonkee• 16 years ago

Not sure I agree 100% with the list (banks ? eBay ?) but much of the complexity in sites for larger companies is due to design-by-committee - a number of stakeholders/clients/managers have to have their bikeshedding input and the end result is a mess.

Small companies/startups aim for simplicity because they have fewer stakeholders to please and they are concentrating on a single idea and brand. In the case of Google, that simplicity has become a brand in of itself.

gsivil3• 16 years ago

I guess simplicity is something relative. And your simple may by my complex. I do not do much with online banking but just some money transfers are one password and 2-3 clicks away.

I agree google (and craigslist) are also using the simplicity of the interface to emphasize the utility of the website.

The more I think I find that almost all the websites that are successful ( and my preference is only one data point) tend to have a simple interface. For example youtube has only one search box , minimized options, with two or three clicks you can access the content

jacquesm• 16 years ago

Funny how you should post this a day after google decided to change the homepage to 'igoogle' for me when I'm logged in.

gsivil3• 16 years ago

hopefully they will not punish me that way too :)

Ask HN: Why most of the great websites are so simple design-wise?

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