April 1998: Kelly Mathews

April 6, 1998

The following article was originally published for the Site Builder Network Workshop (now MSDN Online Web Workshop.)

"Everything that you do should be about design."

Kelly Matthews is creative director for Indigo Group Omnimedia, Inc. . His first digital media experience came from working at Capital Video, a video post-production house. "I was also introduced to multimedia there as I worked on a cd-i title for their multimedia department," Kelly said. Later, he worked with interactive television companies TVAnswer and Tele-TV, interactive television companies. "TV Answer, which later became EON, was my first real exposure to user- interface design," Kelly told us. While there, he gained experience in industrial design for consumer electronic devices like, such as hand- held communicators. When the Web exploded, Kelly took his current position. Over the past two years with Indigo, Kelly has designed numerous Web sites, including Jones Internet Channel , GTS Duratek , and Simon Says Kids , a portion of the Simon and Schuster Web site for kids' books.

SBN: What have been some of the high spots of your design career?

Kelly Matthews: One was producing the UI for a working version of QB1 on a wireless interactive television network. QB1 is a real time interactive football game that is played while watching live football. Another highlight was when I was interviewed by Web Week to give my opinion about where browser technology is headed. I have also had my work for Indigo shown in New Media magazine recently. Jones Internet Channel's broadband Web site, MCI's intranet site called Dark Star, and Cognizant Corporation's original Web site, which has recently been changed, are some of the more interesting Web sites that I have worked on.

SBN: What is your estimate of the current standing of Web design technology?

Kelly Matthews: Web design technology has come a long way, but it still isn't there from the perspective of broadcast design and multimedia. Most of the issues revolve around cross cross-browser compatibility, but the difference in technology that the end user is utilizing -- whether bandwidth or monitor color depth -- puts many restrictions on Web design. Each time a new browser comes out, designers are presented with a new set of features to build into their designs, . it's It's great, ; the only problem is that we cannot use many of the features for months, until the end users adopt the newest generations of browsers. On the other hand, it is great that there have been so many improvements in not only page layout but font selection and scripting.

SBN: How do you approach a new design assignment?

Kelly Matthews: In approaching a new assignment, I generally sit down and talk with the client. I find out what the purpose of the site is, the type of end use that will be hitting the site, the technology that the end user is likely to have, the message that the client wants to send, the look and feel that the client thinks that they might like for their site, and anything else that might be relevant to the project. When I have all of the information that I need, I sit down with my staff, and we develop a user model on which we can base the user interface of the site. This is usually right after we have established a screen flow or architecture for the site. With the architecture and the user model developed, I produce three different treatments of the main interface. The client then gets to see the designs and choose from them. At this point, the client has input to change anything that does not seem right. Once I get approval on the look and feel of the main interface, I create a "drill down" page so the client can see how the design will be carried through the rest of the Web site. If there are no other special cases, and the client likes what they see, I send the design into production.

SBN: Discuss the balance between design and site performance.

Kelly Matthews: The real issue that needs to be discussed when considering design and site performance is: who Who is my end user. ? Is the end user going to have a high-speed connection or are they stuck on a 14.4 dial up? Do their monitors support high color depth or will they be viewing at eight- bit, and so on? A good design will take into account these issues, and if the design is executed properly, there should be few problems for the intended end user.

SBN: How is the Web changing the design profession?

Kelly Matthews: The Web is opening up many more jobs for artists and designers and schools are offering more classes that deal with digital imaging and design. It seems as though the Web is responsible for giving the design profession a boost in popularity. There is the danger that design will suffer from a glut of inexperienced professionals -- but from what I have seen, there are many talented young artists are out there.

SBN: How does designing for the Web differ from other types of design?

Kelly Matthews: There are many considerations when designing for the Web, probably too many to go into any great detail. All mediums are different, and so design criteria are different. For the Web, you need to watch your colors for palette reduction considerations, but; for print, the color considerations May revolve around the type of print job. Is it a 2-color job or a 4-color job? For the Web you need to develop a deliberate and useful user interface with your design that will aid the end user in navigating the site, but for standard broadcast design the interface is a passive one, -- so as long as your design is within certain dimensions, the interface design isn't a primary issue.

SBN: What advice would you give someone interested in a Web design career?

Kelly Matthews: Concentrate on becoming a great designer first. Everything that you do should be about design. As far as Web design goes, they beginners can pick that up quickly -- but what will get them in the door of a high- profile Web design studio is an incredible design portfolio. When I am looking to hire a designer, I am more interested in what their portfolio looks like -- whether it is print materials, multimedia, broadcast design, or Web design. I usually don't care if they know HTML, CGI, and Java Script. I have a technical guy who does all of that anyway.

Editor's note: See the MSDN Online VolunteerKiosk for opportunities to build your portfolio.

SBN: What adjustments would a traditional graphic designer need to make in order to enter this field?

Kelly Matthews: If by traditional we mean designers who are still doing manual layout, the biggest adjustment would be to make sure that they are comfortable creating on a computer. There is a completely different set of tools available to a digital designer, and those tools May have a great impact on a designer's work. If a designer isn'tdesigners aren't able to use the tools available to express their messages, their designs will be ineffective.

SBN: What do you think is the future of Web design and of the Internet itself?

Kelly Matthews: I really believe in the convergence of all of the various digital mediums, from televisions to computers, the Web, software, video, -- you name it. I am in fact counting on it. Designers will become more important as our society comes to rely on information delivered as digital media. There isn't anyone who can predict what things will look like in 5 five years, but I know that it will be very different from today, and that is exciting.

Michael Moore/Microsoft Corporate Photographer