Design Disrepair
The keys to a successful website renovation.

Who is Jason?
• Designer & Front-End Developer
at Cyberwoven in South Carolina
• Author of the Sitepoint book
The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
• Founding member &president
of Refresh Columbia
• University of Central Florida Alum
•Personal Site: Jasongraphix.com

There are about 126 million
homes in the United States.
* http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

There are over 172 million websites.
*http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html

Homes and websites both need to be
maintained…even these.

The Dilemma
Maintenance Sucks Renovation is Exciting
Replacing a leaky faucet. Knocking down walls.
Putting on a new roof. Reconfiguring a kitchen.
Steam cleaning carpets. Installing a walk-in shower.
Clearing gutters. Replacing light fixtures.
Repairing rotten wood. Modernizing finishes.
Unclogging toilets Improving functionality.
...putting up with the past. …making it your own.

Is it time to swing the hammer?

Some of the top reasons for
renovating a home are:
Outdated Finishes
Obsolete Appliances
Dysfunctional Floor Plan
Inefficient Energy Use
Lack of Square Footage

The top reasons for
renovating a website
are similar:

Outdated Content…

Obsolete Code…
function MM_preloadImages() { //v3.0
var d=document; if(d.images){ if(!d.MM_p) d.MM_p=new Array();
var i,j=d.MM_p.length,a=MM_preloadImages.arguments; for(i=0; i<a.length; i++)
if (a[i].indexOf(\"#\")!=0){ d.MM_p[j]=new Image; d.MM_p[j++].src=a[i];}}
}
function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0
var i,x,a=document.MM_sr;
for(i=0;a&&i<a.length&&(x=a[i])&&x.oSrc;i++) x.src=x.oSrc;
}
function MM_swapImage() { //v3.0
var i,j=0,x,a=MM_swapImage.arguments; document.MM_sr=new Array;
for(i=0;i<(a.length-2);i+=3){
if ((x=MM_findObj(a[i]))!=null){
document.MM_sr[j++]=x; if(!x.oSrc) x.oSrc=x.src; x.src=a[i+2];
}
}
}

Dysfunctional Navigation…

Inefficient to Update…

& Lack of Scalability.

The worst are the old
websites that were built
“One piece at a time”

kludge or kluge (kl j)
n. Slang
1. A system, especially a computer system, that is constituted of
poorly matched elements or of elements originally intended
for other applications.
2. A clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem.

Coronado Catastrophe
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?p=1386

Five Lessons I’ve Learned
From Home Renovation
1. Learn the Building Codes
2. Set Realistic Goals
3. Have the Right Tools
4. Invest your Resources wisely
5. Make Lasting Changes

1
Learn the Building Codes
Building codes regulate the structural design, energy
efficiency, construction quality, and overall safety of
structures occupied by the public.

New Construction
• Separation of Content,
Style & Behavior
• Valid HTML & CSS
• Section 508 Compliance
• Graceful Degradation
• Design consistency
with no CSS hacks.
Web Standards in a Nutshell
By Natalie Jost –www.nataliejost.com

“Make it Right”
-Mike Holmes
Holmes on Homes

2 Set Realistic Goals
…because overdue and over budget
is not good for business.

“Kitchen Sink Syndrome”
Original Client Request:
Add an estimate request form.
Eventual Solution:
• Design new page with form.
• No CSS? Add stylesheet to page.
• Nav is image based?
…Rebuild with CSS.
• Site is static?
Global find & replace to add new nav to all pages.
• New nav gets approved with changes… OF COURSE!
• Create include file for nav and add that to all pages…etc…

3 Have the Right Tools
“When your only tool is a reciprocating saw,
every project looks like demolition.”

My Essential Toolkit

But do you really
know how to use
the tools?
This guy did…

BGCOLOR? SPACER GIF?
<td><table align=\"right\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"229”>
<tr>
<td width=\"30\" bgcolor=\"#F5F4EB\"><img src=\"images/menu_arrow2.gif\" width=\"30\"
height=\"26\"></td>
<td class=\"menu\" bgcolor=\"#F5F4EB\" colspan=\"2\">
<a href=\"javascript:Hide_Menu(-1);\" class=\"menu\">All Articles</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan=\"3\" bgcolor=\"#036CAE\"><img src=\"images/spacer.gif\" width=\"1\"
height=\"1\"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=\"30\" bgcolor=\"#F5F4EB\"><img src=\"images/spacer.gif\" width=\"30\"
height=\"26\"></td>
<td class=\"menu\" bgcolor=\"#F5F4EB\" colspan=\"2\">
<a href=\"javascript:Hide_Menu(-1);\" class=\"menu\">Back</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan=\"3\" bgcolor=\"#036CAE\"><img src=\"images/spacer.gif\" width=\"1\"
height=\"1\"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>

4 Invest your Resources Wisely
If your website was a home, where would you
want to spend your time and money?

“Spend your money
where the water is.”
Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes.

Spend your time/budget
where the functionality is.
Style and whiz bang won’t make it work better!

5
Make Lasting Changes
“Too many designers get caught up in the visuals needing to be
representative of the time and current design movements…when in
reality, design needs to be timeless.”
-Nick Finck

What is Timeless Design?
A visual concept that could simultaneously exist in both the past and the future.
Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman Ball Chair
Designed by Charles & Ray Eames Designed by Eero Aarnio
in 1956 in 1966

Compaq (2001) – http://www.compaq.com

Compaq (2008) – http://h18000.www1.hp.com/

Apple (2000) – http://www.apple.com/

Apple (2008) – http://www.apple.com/

Herbert Bayer, Kandinsky Poster, 1926

Jason Santa Maria, 2008

Remember:
Maintenance Sucks…
Especially on outdated homes and websites.

Happy Renovating!