Recently there’s been an uproar over where we should position our site’s navigation. Should we be scolded for trying alternative methods; for it alienates our readers and possibly gives them travel sickness? Well I’d like to present my view of the trend we seem to be experiencing right now.

However rather than jump on the band wagon of heated debates I want to note how the world is thinking about design over content, or is it content over design? Oh it’s so confusing. First one might believe that “Yes! Having your navigation at the bottom of your page really does make browsing easier so much more fluent! Why didn’t I realise it before!” But then I’m pushed into thinking… “Ah, how daft of me! I was fooled into thinking that by moving my navigation to the bottom of my page I would impress everyone for it’s bold statement. All because of my own darn ego.”

As designers do we sincerely care about our readers interests? or are we just playing with our own pride? Personally I think there’s no separating the two. If we sincerely care about our readers so much as to take a risk, then we ultimately pay some price whether we like it or not. Whether it be from our readers, friends, or designer buddies. As debates have come across in the recent months it certainly seems to be growing that way.

I’m beginning to notice that being a “web designer” has a following of fashionism to it; and it seems to be unavoidable. This attitude seems to come with the territory. All design shouts “Do I make a difference?”. It’s inevitably an ego boost for everyone, the designer, the viewer, the reader, and the critique. But it’s getting that perfect balance that can be the crucial part.

So where do we draw the line? At what point is it just enough to give someone credit for truly intuitive thinking, having considered it’s customers needs? For myself, I have to give a hand to those that are bold enough to put forward their own “trends”, perhaps their not as infatuated with their ego as much as we first thought they were?

Either way, I’m glad we’re not afraid to question the norm, for both sides of the argument. It keeps us on our toes, in-check and reminds us of the decisions a designer must make.

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The posts Content Usability vs Content Design, Design your content ~ Part 1, Designers are becoming big-headed, Content Extraction, Cutting it out, are related to this post.

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