Approximately four minutes into it, I finished taking this year's survey, The Survey For People Who Make Websites. It was all smooth sailing until I hit question thirty-nine:
Web design exciting? I remember design being very exciting from 1994 to 1999 when it seemed that new tricks and methods were being discovered every other day. Back then to be a web designer meant that you were constantly on the edge, pushing the frontier of a new world. I mean until you know what it was like to read Powazek's column that documented how to use this newfangled HTML tag called "tables" or browse through Studio Archetype's 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games...and these are just two events in a medium whose then-short history already seemed to be brimming with game-changing events.
It's not as exciting as it was, but I suppose that's to be expected when you've been with a brand new industry since the beginning, watching it mature and become mainstream. This isn't a stab at the quality of work that I see these days—a lot of it is really, really great work—but I don't know that I find it as exciting as it once was.
Today, my enthusiasm comes from getting to work with the amazing talent we have at Airbag, working with friends and colleagues from time to time, and sometimes arguing, sometimes laughing, but always working with really great clients.
So, honestly, I answered the question "Yes - once in a while" but what I wanted to answer was "Dear question Thirty-Nine, I don't like you very much, you make me feel old and grumpy. And oh, by the way: I find your mom to be very exciting. Suck it."
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Hmmm. I guess next year we'll have to add a fill-in-the-blank "other" for that question.
All for you, Greg! All for youuuuuuuu!
I remember when I was learning HTML and CSS (...and PHP), there would be times when I would literally get up and do a little dance after writing a particularly exciting bit of code. Pathetic, I know, but boy was it great. These days, that doesn't happen so much - it seems to take nailing an especially difficult problem in an elegant way. That being said, it did happen yesterday, so nevermind...
It's true, fun tricks just don't happen the way they used to. I remember discovering on my own I could use CSS to create rollovers without Javascript. Zeldman's book hadn't even been out yet so I was extra excited and proud of myself. Most of my enjoyment these days similarly comes from the social aspect of being involved with others in the web community and making fun of the people stuck in the 90's.
Man, I remember reading that Webmonkey table article, myself. Crazy times, those were. You're definitely right -- things are moving at such a breakneck speed as they once were, so it does feel less exciting, in a way. But, on the other hand, I feel like the fact that the technology and tools are a bit more stable lets us focus more on what really matters: design, usability, user experience, communication, etc.
It cuts both ways, I guess.
I'd agree. Ever-shifting technology is interesting at first, but the amount of effort invested in obsolete areas can be frustrating, over a longer time frame. Solving new design problems is the part that stays rewarding. The more I can focus on that, the more I find the work enjoyable.
Airbag North.
For me it's simple - back on the mid-90's when I began, the Web was this wild, uncharted, no-rules-at-all place where no one really knew exactly what we were doing but were willing to try anything and try again, to see what sticked out. Everything was fair game. I remember printing the whole NCSA guide to learn HTML (pretty much the only resource to do so back then) and taking it everywhere I could give it a read.
And of course, we were younger. That counts for a lot in the enthusiasm department. Fast forward 10 or more years, and it's obvious why we don't see things as exciting as they once were. Everything seems now so structured, institutionalized and figured out these days that it's easy to become jaded of the scene quickly. But that's almost an inevitable consequence of time, I guess.
You're right, it's less exciting now. But now, it's more like using mature tools like Quark 3.1, and knowing how things will work and layout. We're still not at InDesign CS3 levels, but it's getting there in terms of stability, ease of creation and functionality.
I remember going to Macromedia UCON in 1997 when Dreamweaver 1.0 was released. holy crap, what a revelation! When we saw the Behaviors palette, I seriously broke out in a sweat. Do you mean we can now create our own JavaScript rollovers without having to talk to those dorks in IT? For real? Man, were we stoked. The progression in the mid 90s was unreal. It's slower now, but there are still occasional A-Ha! moments that make me smile.
Is it still exciting? It all depends on what you're willing to put into it.
I answered "Yes - frequently." I have had a renewed interest ever since attending AEA, so for the time I was getting complacent, I really turned it around with a trip to AEA.
No matter how pissed off I get with something that is giving me grief, I consider it a challenge to figure it out. Whether it takes hours or days, I'll fight it. So I guess It's still exciting for me.
Either that or I am a glutton for punishment.
Folks around the water cooler were bemoaning the job title area of the survey because "UI, UX and other important design functions are missing". I guess some just hate the idea of being an "other".
I have to concur with Todd in regards to design being exciting, as long as I am learning I am having fun.
I remember when we picked up the German CyberStudio in '97. That was my formal introduction to the more expensive web 'design' apps over Pagemill (wow).
Really discovering web standards were exciting, now, as the web exits elementary school, things are moving a bit faster and are less about discovery and more about growing up.
Dodgeball, Heads Up Seven Up, and Tetherball are no longer used. Now it's just pep rallies and fund raisers.
Greg, you’re just sad that the web now comes in color.
(Also: movies have sound now.)