- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmygrad.ml
28
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmygrad.ml
Chinese web design is often a cluttered mess. However, between economic, cultural, and typographic reasons, this style is here to stay. Previously, we’ve learned why Chinese apps are weirdly cluttered. Well, websites bring this to another level. With 1.4 billion people in China, why do some of the most widely used websites still adopt this 2000s styled design? Wouldn't it lag up the PC? Yes, but that's if people use PCs…
In this video, I cover the history, psychology, and culture of Chinese web design. I discuss the impact of internet speed limitation, mobile leapfrogging, language & typography, and how we as software/website designers, developers, and builders can create things that fit local users. Spoiler: clutter does not mean bad UX.
Sources (videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCe6xnxdN1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KDdU0DCbJA
Source (articles)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1058070/china-sina-weibo-dau/#:~:text=As%20of%20the%20first%20quarter,582%20million%20monthly%20active%20users
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/china-website-complexity/
https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2023/09/why-are-chinese-websites-stuck-in-2003/
https://econsultancy.com/why-do-chinese-websites-look-so-busy/
https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-au/insights/blog/why-do-chinese-websites-and-apps-look-so-busy
https://style.mla.org/italics-titles-not-latin-alphabet/#:~:text=No.,instead%20of%20to%20the%20right.
You're busy, I gotchu
0:00 - So many questions
0:57 - Why is this an economic decision?
2:46 - How did mobile leapfrogging impact this?
4:15 - How does Chinese culture influence this?
5:12 - What does the science say?
5:32 - Why is clutter sometimes kinda nice?
6:14 - How does language & typography impact this?
7:19 - What can we learn?
7:40 - a message to web/software builders
Over the years I grow to despise the “minimalism” design trend. I want my computer to be like a newspaper, not a coffee table book. While not throwing accessibility out.
The main thing with “cluttered” interfaces is whether they are designed to work within limits of band with, processing power, screen size etc. If the clutter is being sourced from 25 different JavaScripts chit chatting with various servers about what they’re going to do, and everywhere you mouse moved it requests 5 new webpages to show up on top of the content, then that sucks. But if the available info is squished together on one or 2 displays that is useful.
One thing I don’t need is a bunch of “whitespace” forced on me. If my eyes need a rest I can look at the wall.