<story><title>Why do all websites look the same?</title><url>https://medium.com/s/story/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mcv</author><text>I think the redesigns in that article demonstrate why most websites look the same.&lt;p&gt;Let&amp;#x27;s do a test. Go to a bookshop and buy a novel. Now go to a different bookshop, and buy a different novel from a different writer and a different publisher. Read them. Chances are they&amp;#x27;re going to look very similar. Different cover maybe, but inside, mostly black letters in an unobtrusive font on a white page with sensible margins. No decorations or illustrations, nothing at weird angles or sizes. They all use the form that&amp;#x27;s efficient at transferring the content, the story, to your head.&lt;p&gt;Some web sites are about their design, but most are about the content they present, and they want to present that content in an efficient manner. A design that distracts from the content is not practical.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zeveb</author><text>&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;    t l i sya f t a 
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I think that makes the point about why avant-garde style can be difficult to comprehend, no?&lt;p&gt;(read the columns up-and-down …)</text></comment>
<story><title>Why do all websites look the same?</title><url>https://medium.com/s/story/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mcv</author><text>I think the redesigns in that article demonstrate why most websites look the same.&lt;p&gt;Let&amp;#x27;s do a test. Go to a bookshop and buy a novel. Now go to a different bookshop, and buy a different novel from a different writer and a different publisher. Read them. Chances are they&amp;#x27;re going to look very similar. Different cover maybe, but inside, mostly black letters in an unobtrusive font on a white page with sensible margins. No decorations or illustrations, nothing at weird angles or sizes. They all use the form that&amp;#x27;s efficient at transferring the content, the story, to your head.&lt;p&gt;Some web sites are about their design, but most are about the content they present, and they want to present that content in an efficient manner. A design that distracts from the content is not practical.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nindalf</author><text>Like Hacker News. Most of us are on this website right now via the browser. It&amp;#x27;s the same interface it&amp;#x27;s been for years, and that familiarity increases the efficiency of understanding. Re-imaginging everything is a great opportunity for designers to showcase their skills, but wouldn&amp;#x27;t really improve users&amp;#x27; efficiency.</text></comment>