Nick Finck

Among the top 20 most influential people in web design?
Jul 3rd, 2009

So it seems Web Design Dev has put my name on the list of 30 Most Influential People In Web Design which is totally insane but cool.  I am honored to be on the list with the likes of Jakob Nielsen, Jeffrey Zeldman, Veerle Pieters, Jason Santa Maria, Dave Shea, Dan Cederholm, Daniel Mall, Jeff Croft, Andy freaking Clarke, and even David Leggett (yes, you read that right, I think the guy rocks).  I am honored and humbled, really.  But looking at that list brought up some questions for me…

I have to ask what exactly have I done that is so special that separates me out from the rest of all the vary talented web professionals and certainly several who didn’t make this list?  Sure, I have been working in the web field for over 13 years now.  I did run a online magazine for ten years.  I did help startup a small web design an user experience company.  I have contributed a little to volunteer efforts helping educate and inform web professionals about best practices. And I have been speaking (often for free or very little) at web conferences and events for some time now.  But so have a lot of other very well recognized web professionals who didn’t make the list and most of them have been doing it long before I had even started.  Two of those people who come to mind are Molly Holzschlag and Lou Rosenfeld.  Why didn’t they make the list?

I also have to ask… most of these people, with some exceptions, seem to actually be visual web designers (or at least creative directors).  What is a user experience pro like me doing on this list for visual web design? I am not sure.  True that visual web design is an aspect of the overall user experience.  True that information architecture does involve an understanding good design at least to some degree for layout and structure.  True that usability is something any web designer should consider when creating their design comps (especially if they haven’t done wireframes prior to the comps).  But is user experience design really visual web design?  No, not really.  Its design, yes, but its not visual design. 

My work is not going to floor you with amazing typography and visual effects.  My adherence to grids and understanding of how to use negative space are not going to make you gaze in awe.  My mastering of color and composition is not going think I am some kind of creative genius.  If anything, my research findings and wireframes are going to make you step back and say “wow, I never realized we could make it work that way, this is so much easier to use.”  More importantly, if I do my job right, the user is going to complete their task and not even realize that they had a good experience.  Users don’t tend to remember good experiences, they tend to remember the bad ones.  A good experience is what I strive to create.  Perhaps this list should be named “30 Most Influential Web Professionals?”