The Puzzle of Japanese Web Design

I'm Not There (1956) writes "Jeffrey Zeldman brings up the interesting issue of the paradox between Japan's strong cultural preference for simplicity in design, contrasted with the complexity of Japanese websites. The post invites you to study several sites, each more crowded than the last. 'It is odd that in Japan, land of world-leading minimalism in the traditional arts and design, Web users and skilled Web design practitioners believe more is more.'"

Comments

Not my experience

[JohnFluxx]

> Japan's strong cultural preference for simplicity in design

What? It's the exact opposite.

This is my only real complaint about Japan. I can't stand the shops here. There are colored flashy signs everywhere, and you can always hear at least a dozen different adverts at the same time.

Likewise every device is ridiculously complex. My fan has 6 buttons and a remote control. Just to blow air! And the toilet has a dozen buttons and two knows to adjust seat and water temperature. Everything is completely overdesigned.

Re:Not my experience

[purpledinoz]

I have to totally agree. I was trying to use this shower in Japan, but it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to use it. There was a huge control panel full of buttons to adjust temperature, pressure, shower head type, and so on. From then on, I truly appreciated the simplicity of the single lever tap.

Re:Looks less cluttered translated

[OnePumpChump]

It isn't just a language thing. Japanese web pages usually have 2-3 times as many distinct regions with distinct functions on screen at any given time versus American ones. It's like every Japanese website is Amazon (one of the few major offenders in the US)

Re:Do not RTFA, the summary is TFA

[Yaa 101]

Because IKEA is swedish?