A Wider Net

Information Aesthetics points us to an interesting set of proposed designs to completely rethink the Bloomberg website. I really enjoyed seeing how wildly different the three approaches were. In one case, the designer went for an extremely clean approach, largely white, and in another case the designer went nuts with lava-lamp-like visualizations and color-coded social networking. I have no small amount of empathy for the poor Bloomberg people who would be sitting there asking “but which one is right?”

I guess righthas a different meaning for everyone, right? What’s right for one company isn’t necessarily right for another. And I’m sure the user experience designers and information architects could pick these designs apart from many different angles. As long as the people who are supposed to use it can figure it out quickly, find what they need, and use it efficiently without fatigue, then I would rate it a success. Regardless, I love these examples. It’s sort of like concept cars - it makes us step back and look at things differently. In fact, I’d love to see some designs for events that are this creatively off the beaten path - “concept events”. If I find any, I’ll let you know