‘Take an axe to your website’
The most common example used to demonstrate Aristotle’s approach to design is an axe. Given that a website plays such a crucial role in business these days, the example is the better of the two. (see part I) The worst a badly designed teapot can do is burn your fingers or drip on your tablecloth. A badly designed axe can wound or even kill ( or, in the case of a warrior’s axe, kill the wrong person!) Chopping wood is hard work; you want an axe that feels right, that seems to know what to do.
When I am browsing the Internet, particularly when I am not ‘working’, I find the best sites are the ones where I am never conscious of thinking: Where is?….How do I?….What do they mean?….How do I get to? Of course I was thinking those things but the great sites guide you to the answers before the thought becomes conscious.
If your customers are saying things like: ‘I couldn’t find’ etc. Listen to them. Maybe it’s time to take an axe to your website and make some improvements.
