Blog Design Blog

“You are either progressing or regressing. There is no such thing as standing still” (1)

Introduction

A blog design in it’s simplest form is an interface between the user and the data on the blog. It is the job of the blog design to make it as easy as possible for the user to be able to tell if the blog contains data that the user might be interested in. And if it does then it needs to be able to display it in a way that makes it easy for the user to be able to consume that data. That will never change.

Everything else about blogs do change though. Blogs exist in a fast-paced environment where not only are changes fast, but news of them are just as fast if not faster. Blog designs need to be able to change along with the blogs in order to meet any new needs or goals that appear. A blog design will never be done simply because blogs will never stop evolving. What makes sense one moment won’t necessarily hold true the next moment.

1. The environment changes all the time.

The environment I am referring to is everything that relates directly or indirectly to the blog design, including the blogosphere, technology, widgets, plugins, etc. These elements of the environment change all the time so it is important to reassess if the blog design meets it’s goals whatever that may be for that particular blog the best way it can be. For example, new technology could make accomplishing certain goals easier so it is important to continually reassess the blog design by asking yourself how you can improve on your blog design.

2. Just because it was true five minutes ago, doesn’t mean it will be true tomorrow

Just as the environment changes all the time, the decisions we make on our blog design might work well one moment based on the current situation. But since situations changes all the time as well, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will continue to work later on. So just because you have been doing something a certain way for a long time does not mean it is still the best method later on.

3. You change as time goes on

You get better, experience new things, learn new skills, and so what you can do for your blog design changes. Therefore it is important to reassess what else you can do for your blog design that you might not have been able to do before because of lack of knowledge or experience.

4. What seemed like a great idea at one moment, might not be later

Tables used to be a great idea for layouts and we all know how GREAT that was. It has thankfully died out for the most part. Trends come and go, reassess your blog design periodically so you are not the last person to know when a trend has gone because it has been proven to suck.

5. New research can render parts of your blog design old

Guys in white lab coats spend a great part of their lives in cages to give us valuable research on various topics, such as usability, accessibility, psychology, perception, and other cool things. In order to not waste their sacrifices and make your blog designs better, it is important to listen when they talk. Occasionally new research could change a commonly established practice to not be as great as it was thought to be or new ideas that replaces old ones.

6. You are human

As humans we might like a blog design for the first few months, but after a period of time we just get sick of it. How long it takes for a person to reach that point differs from person to person, but inevitably we get sick of staring at the same old blog design and we want to redesign it. (It takes me about 2 weeks) On the upside, it allows us to make more radical changes instead of just small ones.

7. What we need the blog to do changes

At the beginning, a blog design might be created just for the purpose of blogging, but over time the needs of the blogger might change. For example, a blogger might decide that he/she wants to make money off the blog, but advertisement blocks were never taken into consideration for the first design. While ads could be forced into the old design, it is much better to redesign it to fulfill the blog’s new needs.

8. Pink is no longer your favorite color

It happens, your tastes change and for a lot of people the blog represents their personality. So you might deem it is important enough for your blog design to make changes to match your new-found favorite color or anything else you feel is important to reflect about your personality.

9. Readers change

Imagine this, your blog suddenly goes from the cozy 300 readers that you are used to and blows up to 1,000 readers. That doesn’t mean that you get more of the same users, it could mean that you got new users that are nothing like your old users and they may have different needs that you need to adjust your blog design for.

10. There is no such thing as perfection

But you can get pretty damn close by continually working on your blog design to make it better.

Conclusion

In the end, blog design trends come and go, but the basics will always remain important for a great blog design. But that doesn’t stop the fact that small improvements over time result in big improvements. Never stop trying to improve your blog design and reassessing it to make sure it is the best you can make it.

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References

1. “Pocket Sponsor: 24/7 Back to the Basics, Support for Addiction Recovery” By Shelly Marshall (p 16)

2. Picture is by marcelgermain