Web Dogma by Eric Reiss – and now in Croatian!

Conceived by Eric Reiss back in 2003 and inspired by Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 Danish film movement – Web Dogma is currently in version 9.1. Idea was to create a set of design, content and usability guidelines “that transcended passing fashion and advancing technology”.

Recently I’ve got an interesting opportunity and met Eric Reiss – man behind the Web Dogma and that was the occasion when I was introduced to the Web Dogma for the very first time. Eric is CEO of Copenhagen based FatDUX Group – big UX consultancy.

Web Dogma was presented as a simple typewritten list posted at the 7th Information Architecture Summit in Vancouver on May 27, 2006. Since then it was received by (web) designers all over the world. And today, UXPassion.com is proud to present you Web Dogma in English and exclusively in Croatian language. (And I’ve just talked to Eric couple moments ago about this!).

Web Dogma:  10 rules that will enhance the UX of any website or online application

1. Anything that exists only to satisfy the internal politics of the site owner must be eliminated.
2. Anything that exists only to satisfy the ego of the designer must be eliminated.
3. Anything that is irrelevant within the context of the page must be eliminated.
4. Any feature or technique that reduces the visitor’s ability to navigate freely must be reworked or eliminated.
5. Any interactive object that forces the visitor to guess its meaning must be reworked or eliminated.
6. No software, apart from the browser itself, must be required to get the site to work correctly.
7. Content must be readable first, printable second, downloadable third.
8. Usability must never be sacrificed for the sake of a style guide.
9. No visitor must be forced to register or surrender personal data unless the site owner is unable to provide a service or complete a transaction without it.
10. Break any of these rules sooner than do anything outright barbarous.*

* Shamelessly stolen from George Orwell’s famous Rules for Writers

Web dogma na hrvatskom jeziku

1. Sve što postoji samo kako bi zadovoljilo internu politiku vlasnika web-sjedišta mora biti uklonjeno.
2. Sve što postoji samo kako bi zadovoljilo ego dizajnera mora biti uklonjeno.
3. Sve što nije relevantno s obzirom na kontekst stranice mora biti uklonjeno.
4. Svaka osobina ili tehnika koja umanjuje posjetiteljevu mogućnost da slobodno navigira mora biti ponovno izrađena ili uklonjena.
5. Svaki interaktivni objekt koji prisiljava posjetitelja da pogađa njegovo značenje mora biti ponovno izrađen ili uklonjen.
6. Osim web preglednika, niti jedan dodatni softver ne smije biti uvjet za ispravan rad web-sjedišta.
7. Sadržaj mora biti prije svega čitljiv, potom treba biti omogućen njegov ispis, a tek na trećem mjestu treba biti omogućeno njegovo preuzimanje.
8. Iskoristivost nikada ne smije biti žrtvovana zbog stilskih smjernica.
9. Niti jedan posjetitelj ne smije biti prisiljen registrirati se ili dati osobne podatke osim ako vlasnik web-sjedišta nikako ne može omogućiti traženu uslugu ili dovršiti transakciju bez tih podataka.
10. Radije prekršite bilo koje od ovih pravila prije nego što odmah učinite nešto barbarski.*

*Besramno ukradeno iz poznatih Orwellovih Pravila za pisce

9 Responses to “ Web Dogma by Eric Reiss – and now in Croatian! ”

1. Silvio says:

   April 17, 2009 at 13:06

   Interesting rules! I’m glad that i read them!

   Reply
   • UXPassion.com says:

     April 17, 2009 at 14:39

     I am glad you did, too!

     Reply
2. uxdesign.com says:

   April 18, 2009 at 0:06

   In a similar vein: http://www.brazandre.com/manifesto/

   I appreciate #5 most. 1 and 2 seem unrealistic, just given the human condition.

   Should there be ‘fundamentalist’ web design genre?

   Reply
3. UXPassion.com says:

   April 18, 2009 at 18:10

   @uxdesign.com – well “fundamentalist” or “minimalist” genre sounds interesting. I think it’s really interesting and challenging to create rich user experiences but without pushing too much Flash / Sliverlight / AnyPlugInHere stuff… I agree with your view on 1 and 2 – human ego and internal policies are difficult to avoid. Maybe we just need to find a way to live with them and to educate both our users and customers. It’s not like they are going to disappear any time soon, if ever.

   Reply

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