Once again the theme is that we as humans are huge fans of signs and symbols. We will not look any closer at something than we want to, which is usually less than sign makers (of whatever variety) think. I love the analogy of real world spaces to web spaces. Web designers must be master sign makers, making the entrances, exits, turns, and forks as clear as possible and as consistent as possible.
The section discussing the difference between LA and Boston street signs was hilarious. As much as I hated living in LA, I had to appreciate those massive street signs. The move to oversized titles and minimized content is definitely a trend of modern web design that I’ve noticed. Take the log in or splash page for Tumblr for example. Massive “tumblr.” logo, huge “USERNAME” and “PASSWORD” field titles. There is not mistaking where I am suppose to register.
(Permit me a parenthetical side note, however… WHY OH WHY is the log in always so hard to find for existing users? The registration field is plain as day, but not the log in! Netflix does this as well as do a number of other sites, and it drives me nuts. In most cases I access a website on my computer with my log in info cached, but when I’m on an alien computer I have to hunt for the tiny log in! Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine!)
In the final analysis I can appreciate the “Playskool-ification” of the web, as long as I when I’m good ready to dive in to some meaty content it hasn’t been left on the cutting room floor for a website full of big bubbly boxes, logos, and gargantuan registration fields.
