Recently, some visitors of Design Addict came up with questions about the functioning of the Design Index or have made requests for improvements of one or several tools which we place at your disposal. Our wish is to always improve DA. To this end, we are preparing a series of changes which will be effective in the first months of 2007. It seems natural to us to associate you in this process. We will thus open a thread where all your suggestions are welcome. Believe that they will be read, analyzed and to the utmost of our technical and financial abilities, we will integrate them in the new version of the site. Please limit yourself to constructive proposals. We willingly accept critics but, please, have the kindness not to forget that DA is not a big company. DA is only the two of us and you all, of course.
Here are some of the ideas which we would like to discuss with you:
- First statement: the strength of Design Addict is you all! More than ever we want to make DA a place of exchange and knowledge. So that the community of users can benefit from the most reliable, rich and complete content as possible, we want to install collaboration tools which will allow anyone to add or correct the content of the site.
Brainstorming (part 2)
In concrete terms:
- Design Index:
We are working on a tool which will enable you to add or modify the content. Do you want to add information on your favorite designers? Correct an error? Add new designers, producers or objects? It will soon be possible.
The question of the selection criteria is difficult. For the moment, we accept a large panel of products as long as they are or were produced in series. We also expect that they are representative of the design of their time. If you wonder whether our choices are sometimes subjective, the answer is clearly yes.
- Forum:
We will make easier the posting of images in the forum and we will give you the possibility to edit your messages. We plan to divide the forum in sub-sections. Any suggestions for the organization of these sections? Do you have other ideas concerning the forum? We will be reading you with much interest!
- Classified ads:
We are trying to find a way of securing the system to avoid the spam and scam.
We are also planning to allow the posting of images (for our sponsors).
- The community aspect of Design Addict is important to us. For the solidarity that it induces, the meetings and exchanges that it encourages, not for the withdrawn attitude of a small group of individuals. Do you think that a page with the profile of the participants is a good idea? A page where you would be able to present yourself in a few lines (with no obligation of course) and post a link to your website if you have one? Any other suggestions?
So, these are only some of the possible improvements that we could make. Other ideas or wishes concerning the other sections of the site ("Links Directory", "News", "Calendar", "Book Shop")? Express yourself here.
Thank you all for helping us to make out of Design Addict an open project in permanent evolution!
Editing...yay!
P& A I am happy to be able to edit my spelling errors that will an excellent addition in my view. Photos is also good. One thing I would also like it to be able to refer back to the thread while I compose my postings so I can remember who said what.
I'd be happy to post a short bio of myself and I'd enjoy reading more about some of the others here.
I am also interested in the clasified ads as I am still considering your idea about blogging.
one idea
in the 'calendar'pages we can see where there are designexhibitions all around the globe; maybe we can add some exhibitions that are not known to the person who edits this calendar and even better if we (da'ers who vistited an exhibition) could add comments on that exhibition. So others might known in advance if it is worth driving a far distance to visit them. (it would be some kind of 'forum' on the quality of the musea and exhibtions. Myself, since living in Ghent, i visit every exhibtion in the local designmuseum and the current one (50years of compasso d'oro - italian design) is a really great one!
I Like The Idea
I like the idea of editing facilities(possibly a spellchecker too?)
A review section sounds like a superb idea too... it could be products, exhibitions, museums, stores ..anything !
Easier picture posting would be a good thing, maybe with built-in compression to standardise picture size.. for those with slower connections?
I don't see a problem either with optional personal bios.
I'll keep thinking !
Thank you for these first reactions.
Dear Olive, we will add a blog open to many contributors where one will find various categories: essays, news... and, of course, one will be able to post exhibition reviews as you suggested it, Gerrit. Do you know that you can already add events in the calendar? On the right side of the page, there is a button "Add an Event" which gives access to a small form that you can fill in to add events which are not yet included in our pages.
Italy City, a wiki would be great. However, designers' creations are also commercial products. If one does not want to see the index invaded by messages in the style: "This is the very best chair in the world" or "For sale! Barcelona Chairs for only $15", one is forced to keep a certain control on the content. We are looking for the best technical way so that the contributors can add content easily. But we will probably have to filter the content before it appears online. It will be a little less direct but it will guarantee the quality of the content of the index.
Robert, we agree completely with you about the standardization of the picture size. For uploading reasons but also to guarantee the graphic quality of the pages. We have also taken note of your idea of a spellcheker.
We are waiting for your other suggestions. This is very helpfull!
A draw program would be very exciting...
Design is very visually and spatially oriented and designers like to think by sketching. I would love to scan down a thread and see all kinds of little sketches illustrating what designers are talking about. Little free hand sketches are what I am envisioning, the kind one of these talented designers might make on the back of a napkin for a colleague over drinks at happy hour, if you know what I mean. It just seems such a waste to limit these people totally to the written word, or photographs that capture and patch into their post. Let them draw a little. I think it would dramatically increase their willingness to actually talk about designs and designing. Not letting these people sketch is like not letting song writers hum a tune to someone.
I have no comments realy...
I am already quite excited about the possibilities that are offered to us, but yes everything can be improuved. I like DCWilson's suggestion on communicating by sketches. I would not limit it to "well-known" designers as Gerrit suggests but as he rightly points out. The possibility of including a picture or scan in jpg format is largely enough. I can not agree with myself on the spell check. On one hand it is very useful on the other I like to think that all the mistakes I make are seen as minor distractions or produced in the heath of the process. But if we can edit there is no longer any doubt about my ignorance.
Ha !
Well, Koen is living proof that the best editor/spell checker is oneself (let's see - is that how you spell that ? Guess I'll have to look it up -- yep, that's right). He gets the award for most unselfconscious self-improvement. . .after being browbeat by yours truly when I was just a newbie here myself ! (How rude. . .)
Hooray for Patrick and Alix !
I'm just so pleased to have found this wonderful place. And it's a pleasure to look back a little before my time and realize that the site went through a pretty rocky patch (flamers and rude behavior) and survived to the present beatific level. Hooray for us. . .
I've always admired the lively yet disciplined look of the site -- the most handsome discussion board format I've seen, by far. I'd hate to lose that.
I can agree that it would be great for some of us perfectionists (?) to be able to correct erroneous posts, and the ability to view the thread while posting a reply would be very nice, too. (Pardon while I toggle back to see what else I want to respond to. Oh, yes:) The concept of being able to sketch as part of a post is so sweet. Is that really possible ? I'll have to look up croquis. . .
Other boards have divisions, and I suppose that makes sense -- yet there's something quick and simple about just seeing what's come up, in whatever order, and having only one place to go for the latest. Sort of intimate ? Perhaps the ordering of subjects can be through the use of the search function -- so that like matters can be kept (and found) together ? But I don't have any profound opinion about this.
Whatever is done (and I agree with the principle of inevitable evolution) I'm sure will be a pleasure to use. Thank you so much for your ongoing patience and perseverence, in hosting design discussion for an international fellowship.
Stephen
Dividing the forum in sub-sections.
As SDR says, this is 'the most handsome discussion board format I've seen, by far. I'd hate to lose that.'. So if it works so good as it is, you have to be careful.
On the other hand, 'ordering of subjects can be through the use of the search function', I think it worked in the beginning, but today the quantity of threats it's so big, and makes the forum so 'rich', that DO needs some other ordering tool. It grew as much, that needed changes.
Dividing the forum in sub-sections, a long time ago I' been thinking this could be necessary.
I thought you didn't want to change it.
I think it's necessary because there are some topics or ideas already discussed, and to know if there have something about it's necessary to scroll 'search in forum', and to be lucky.
Because one advantage of the way it is today, it's that almost everybody enter to almost every threat to see what?s saying / what's happening. And that's makes it more 'rich'.
So maybe, PUTTING ONE THREAT AFTER THE OTHER, AS IT IS TODAY, AND IT'S NOT THE USUAL WAY IN OTHER FORUMS I SAW, I THINK IT'S ONE DIFFERENT AND STRONG POINT TO BE PRESERVE. A competitive advantage.
So I wouldn't DIVIDED in SUBSECTIONS as it is in others forums.
I am afraid that if you divided in subsections I wouldn't visit some threats whit a no nice title in a section of no much interest. That ended being one of the smartest threats.
But MAY BE the possibility of Include 'CATEGORIES' on each threat. And add more categories as the threat develops, -some times began with one category and ends with others-.
Or Could put Subsections if one threat after the other.
Maybe including an 'index forum' with different subjects are talked in one threat it will be useful.
Resume:
1 Preserve, putting one threat after the other.
2 The possibility of Include 'CATEGORIES' on each threat. And add more categories as the threat develops, -some times began with one category and ends with others-.
3 Maybe include an 'index forum'.
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