“In a design sense, templates are meaningless”

Boris Müller, Professor for Interaction Design at FH Potsdam, co-director of Urban Complexity Lab, thinks the internet is too boring because all the websites look the same. They use the same simple designs and don’t really show any creativity. He says this happens because people use templates from things like WordPress to make their websites. These templates just mix and match parts like images and text, but they don’t really design anything unique. Because of this, websites don’t connect how they look with what they’re about, making them all feel pretty generic: Containers in containers in containers.

“There’s no web design equivalent to the direct and obliging workflows of desktop publishing applications.”

Müller also points out the challenges faced by web designers due to the technical complexities of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, noting that there’s no straightforward equivalent in web design to the intuitive workflows found in desktop publishing.

In the past, designing was more about being creative and trying new things, but now, people seem too lazy to make web pages that stand out. Müller misses the old days when the internet was new and designers were excited to try different looks and technologies to make their pages unique.

In the end, Müller wants to see more creativity on the internet. He thinks we should use all the cool technology we have now to make websites that surprise and delight people, not just follow the same old patterns.

I (dash) totally agree with these points. This is another reason why I want to create a web design tool that helps people break free from these boring templates and make the internet a more interesting place.

Source:
https://borism.medium.com/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73