404 pages have long been the bane of anyone using the internet. We often find ourselves on a 404 page because other sites link to pages that no longer exist. The default messaging from the originating site then, must give the user something to explain the lack of content. The following are the five most creative 404 pages we found recently:

1. http://css-tricks.com/thispagedoesntexist
2. http://www.zivity.com/404
3. http://www.lileks.com/404
   
4. http://www.ddz.net/404/index.htm
   
5. http://www.centerd.com/error.html
   

Three important tips to remember:

1. Do not blame the user for reaching the 404 page. Far too often, websites will blame the user when, by definition, a user-friendly site should recognize that the link issue was probably not the user’s doing.
2. Be creative! It’s a rarity (hopefully) that a user will see this page. Think of it as an opportunity to create an ‘Easter Egg’ on the website that brings creative messaging.
3. Offer options. Now that the user has landed on this page – give them options for content on other parts of the site to offset the disappointment. Some sites also offer a search option to allow a user to find similar content.

In those golden days, we wrote all our own HTML. TextEdit and BBEdit for me! I became a tabbing mistress. Curse those non-tabbing coders. Then came the advent of Adobe Pagemill 2.0 in 1997, the first major WYSIWYG HTML editor. Boy, did that code ever make my eyes cross. Soon after, I had to deal with Microsoft Frontpage-generated code. Tables within tables within tables within…well, you get my drift. The first editor I truly embraced was Claris Homepage, which offered both code and WYSIWYG views for editing. Homepage eventually morphed into Macromedia Dreamweaver and is now, of course, an Adobe product.

What’s that? An Adobe product? No way! Adobe seemingly revolutionized web and print design tools. My professional life has basically revolved around Adobe; and my efficiency has basically depended upon Adobe’s advances. On April 12, Adobe released Creative Suite 5. So what have they accomplished this time around? Here’s a very high-level overview of the best new features. These are the tools I use the most. Check out Webdesigner Depot’s comprehensive review to get all the juicy deets.

CS Live (New!)

• BrowserLab: Check your web pages in various browsers and OS’s.
• Acrobat.com: Set up a central, online workspace and collaborate on copy for InDesign layouts.
• SiteCatalyst NetAverages: learn about the latest Internet usage trends, including browser and OS statistics.

Photoshop

• Content-Aware Fill: Sort of like the rubber stamp tool…on steroids! This is amazing.
• Puppet Warp: I don’t know how often I’ll use this, but it’s super cool. Add pivot points, or “pins” as Adobe calls them, to an object and then move it in any direction. So if you wanted to, you could take a tree and bend it to look as if it’s in a gale-force wind.

Dreamweaver

• Support for PHP-based content management systems
• Enhanced CSS starter layouts
• Integration with Adobe’s new BrowserLab

Illustrator

• Now you can work in up to 100 artboards all at once.
• Get better control with your paintbrushes with variable-width strokes.
• The new shapebuilder tool allows you to combine, edit, and fill shapes directly on your artboard.

Well, that’s enough to convince me. Do I have the new CS5 yet? Not yet, but I can’t wait.

At Normal Modes, we believe good business is a good user experience. We help businesses increase revenues and reduce costs by creating user-centered websites that are straightforward and easy-to use for customers. We specialize in high-profile, data-driven websites.

Normal Modes is a small startup, but we’re profitable and growing quickly. Our clients include a couple of Fortune 500 companies, but are primarily mid-sized companies (or VC-backed startups) that need to improve their user experience to become more profitable.

We are currently looking for a Senior User Experience (UX) Designer to help us with our crush of projects. We are looking for someone who is comfortable working independently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. The ideal candidate will be self-motivated and organized, and require minimal supervision. This position is contract-to-hire and you can work from anywhere you want, whenever you want, as long as you can attend client conference calls (U.S.-based) and the work gets done.

Responsibilities:

• Design and prototype exceptional user experiences, including detailed wireframes and visual designs, for client websites.
• Conduct usability reviews (eye-tracking, heuristic evaluations, etc.) of client websites and present findings to clients.
• Communicate progress regularly to clients and the rest of the project team.
• Work closely with the project manager, graphic designers, and programmers to ensure a successful project.
• Contribute to the Normal Modes blog about trends in usability and UX design.

Qualifications:

• 5-7 years experience designing large, transactional and process-oriented, user-centered websites.
• A portfolio that demonstrates creativity, an eye for detail, aesthetic taste, logical processes, and user-centered design.
• Expert in Photoshop, at least one wireframing tool, and other design-related software.
• Superior communication skills and professional demeanor.
• Solid experience with HTML/CSS, AJAX, Javascript, XML, PHP, and ASP.NET is a plus.
• Candidates with additional core competencies in project management, graphic design, computer programming, copy writing, or video production will be given priority.

Interested candidates may send their resume with a portfolio and salary requirements to jobs [AT] normalmodes [DOT] com.

Please, no recruiters.

(Also, posted over at the 37Signals Job Board.)

Before the Internet, as now, images accomplished most of the work. Playboy’s advertisements relied on a striking photograph to attract and keep the attention of the reader. On the other hand, the image is much larger than is usual today, which also causes the copy to be less prominent than usually would be the case on today’s web pages.

Before the Internet, as now, copy was written carefully to appeal to target readers. Playboy’s advertisements were calculated to accomplish three objectives:

1. Increase readership
2. Create a “Playboy” demographic
3. Overcome stigmatization for consumers of such “pornographic” reading material

However, the copy is much wordier than today’s internet practices. Most web designers would doubt that readers might actually read the 78-85 words contained in the 5-6 lines of the Playboy ads. Moreover, the copy’s unctuous tone reveals as much about the history of cultural assumptions as it does about contemporary copywriting, which gravitates toward telegraphic irony rather than middlebrow turgidity.

Here’s the slideshow we used to get the discussion rolling. We tried to keep everything pretty positive and not bag on anyone. Thanks to my co-presenter Sania for putting it together. (She’s great, isn’t she?)

I didn’t anticipate having more than 50 people in our presentation, so I was surprised to run out of the handouts we shared with everyone. If you missed the handout, you can download it here:

Consider the User Experience & Usability of Your Website: 20 Do’s and 14 Automatic Fails.

Thanks to Marla, Carrie, & Laura for all their hard work putting together the conference! See you next year in New Orleans!

From the “Designing Web Interfaces” Blog

• 12 Standard Screen Patterns
• 30 Essential Controls
• 15 Common Component Patterns

And! Save your favorite patterns to refer to again and again with Pattern Tap.

A plot of land secured, you head on over to Home Depot to assemble the materials to build this Texas oasis yourself. Architects? Overrated design snobs! Building contractors? What do they know that you can’t figure out for yourself!

At Home Depot, you buy a bunch of lumber in various shapes and sizes, a few fixtures that are all the rage today, and a whole host of azaleas that are on sale. Everyone else in Houston has azaleas, and you’ll keep these alive in their containers for the next few months while you build.

Back at the ranch, you pile everything up in the middle of your plot of land. Free from the shackles of architectural plans and city code focused building contractors, you can get started building right away. You nail together a few 2x4s, pull a tarp over it for now (it’s gotten too late in the day for walls or a roof), and declare the place home.

Six months later, you’re still living under the same tarp covered 2x4s, your fixtures are dated, and your azaleas are dead. And you don’t understand why your family doesn’t want to live there and your friends never visit. Can’t they see how great it is?

How many websites are built the exact same way? Way, way too many.