Is Good Design a liability when you're trying to appeal to the Masses? (MySpace vs. Virb)

http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2007/03/virb-vs-myspace

by joshwa • 19 years ago

10 12 19 years ago

domp• 19 years ago

Virb does look real good. My only worry is that it doesn't offer many features that matter to normal people. The best addition is the button to stop customization. For the majority of myspace users they're not going to care for most of the techie features. They could have some tricks up their sleeves though.

When Purevolume updated their site a while back I was real dissapointed at the lack of additional functions. They just added the social network part into the site. I'd hope that they are taking a more innovative approach to this project and not just trying to compete directly with everything Myspace offers.

aristus2• 19 years ago

Heh. I would like to see the author's home page circa 1998. I will bet cash it had a textured background, MIDI file, cat picture, stock art animation, link to Lycos, etc.

Everyone's first web page looks ugly. Most will stay ugly.

But there's something to the idea that ugly works, that worse is better. Direct Marketers have known for decades that a 'downmarket' look improves response, at least in the US. Junk mail looks trashy because that's what thousands of generations in a viciously competitive ecosystem has produced. Ugly works.

herdrick2• 19 years ago

"Direct Marketers have known for decades that a 'downmarket' look improves response"

Interesting. Source?

aristus2• 19 years ago

3 years doing ads for the Yellow Pages and DM. This guy has the same conclusion with good examples:

http://alistapart.com/articles/whitespace

joshwa• 19 years ago

eh, wayback machine only goes back to 2004 for mikeindustries:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040617123234/http://www.mikeindustries.com/

pg• 19 years ago

In a sense, by definition not, since good design is design that achieves its purpose.

Sometimes ultraclean design can send a message of fanciness or snobbishness that turns off "ordinary" people. But I think a good designer can temper that fairly easily.

amichail• 19 years ago

I don't believe that most users will put up with poor design.

It's just that some sites like myspace have so much momentum that users will go to them despite their poor design because all their friends are there already.

The problem in terms of design is just the opposite. I would say that users' high expectations with respect to presentation have hurt web startups in a big way since many founders can't afford a professional web designer. Flash over substance is always a bad thing.

motoko• 19 years ago

Quick quiz: To make the most profit, sell by:

- reason, to solve needs

- fashion, because they can be made to want it

daliso• 19 years ago

I would tend to agree with this. On first site, virb doesn't seem like a site where the content is produced by ordinary people. If I had no experience with the web or design, I would be kind of shy to upload my content as it might look too scruffy for such a polished site.

On the other hand, the sheer scruffiness of a myspace and some of the content on there drastically lowers the perceived entry standards for one to participate. Therefore you have more people unashamed to put up their poorly designed sites.

volida• 19 years ago

There is another thread, a debate why MySpace is so "ugly" contrary to Virb http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=5802

I believe its not about looks as its about UI. If the end-user experience is bad, then the looks will be ignored in an instant. If the UI has flow, is functioning and it gives what users came for and it doesn't cause that many problems in user experience, then the looks is only something that can be neglected if thats not too bad.

There can be times that the UI is something that wins user over other sites. The known cases of Flickr (that blended good looks too) and GMail.

But I've never seen a fancy looking site win users over others, just for that... and I will be a little hard now, and say that, users will not switch over to Virb just for looks (and I don't see anything new or fresh)...maybe new users will pick it over MySpace (if they like it more) but see masses of existing users moving to it, i don't see it happening..

Is Good Design a liability when you're trying to appeal to the Masses? (MySpace vs. Virb)

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