Design Week - 22 February 2007
Design Week asked some senior figures from the digital media scene to suggest examples of Web design that they admired.
Neil Svensen, Chief executive, Rufus Leonard.
www.skype.com Designed in-house
You have to consider a lot of things when suggesting any digital medium that really makes a difference (and catches your eye). Usability is obviously the most important, but the look of the site, the quality of the content, how long you need to interact with it and what it gives you back are all critical. All these factors are clearly demonstrated in Skype's new website. I recently got a new laptop and decided to download and install Skype. The last time I did this was about 18 months ago and it was a difficult experience, so my expectations were low. However the experience couldn't have been better, the instructions were extremely clear, the download time was minimal and it was installed quickly and without fuss. I think it took five minutes for my kids to be 'Skyping' their friends in Australia. Now that's what I call good digital design.