Wooh! Another Lazy List Of “Great” Websites

Web designers are all about self congratulation. We talk about our work, we tell others how awesome they are. We link to work that we think is awesome…

…no, wait. We *should* link to work that we think is awesome. Actually we link to work that we think is kinda good. See that big list of “great dark websites” that someone posted yesterday (it doesn’t matter who, someone definitely posted a list of great dark websites yesterday)? I’ll wager at least a dollar that most of those sites didn’t make the author sit back in amazement at the design. More likely they thought “yeah, that’s pretty decent, and I’ve got to pad this list out.”

The Easiest Kind Of Blog Post

Struggling for inspiration? Haven’t posted on your blog in a couple of days? Throw up a list. It’s easy, quick and often thoughtless but, hey, it’s content, right? You can bump it, stumble it, tweet it and because it’s easy to scan it’ll probably get shared around. You might even get some comments along the lines of “Great list, I really liked #3 in particular.” That’s interactive, isn’t it?

It’s not like you need to put any particular thought into it. A paragraph intro, a list of links, and maybe some screenshots. Done and out the door. So no surprise to see list posts being tweeted about on a daily basis. It’s a pity, because it is possible to post a worthwhile list of cool sites and great examples of web design, it’s just that most people don’t bother.

Do You Care About Your List?

If it’s just a bunch of links, I don’t even know what you think about the list. If I’m reading your blog it’s probably because I have some interest in your opinion. I suppose technically your opening “hey, these are cool” paragraph is an opinion, but I’m pretty sure you’re being lazy. I’m even more sure when I realize I’ve seen half your list posted on other blogs over the course of the last two weeks.

I want to know what you think about each item on your list. I’ll be more confident that you genuinely appreciate what you’re posting if you express an opinion about it. Doesn’t have to be much, just a paragraph or two about each item you post. Highlight why you chose that site to showcase, what’s great about it, what’s *original* about it, and maybe even some constructive criticism about what can be improved.

Could You Pretend To Be Original?

I’ve seen lists about dark sites, red sites, portfolio sites, blog sites. Half the time I’m looking at the same stuff, because I saw it on another list. I know that www.someurl.com is a good example of a pastel blue site, I’ve been told fifteen times this year.

Search for something that I haven’t seen before. Choose something that genuinely inspires you, not just a well put together design. A collection of stuff I’ve already seen isn’t particularly inspiring, nor does it suggest that you put much thought into it. When I see a list of great web design I want to see something that I wouldn’t have found otherwise, and something that I believe you really thought was something special.

Give me a short list of websites you loved, not a long list of websites you sorta liked.

Harder Work = Better Lists

It’s pretty simple. Stop looking at lists as the easy option. Yeah, I know that sometimes you just want to get that post out, and I’m not pretending I’ve always been perfect in following all my own advice. But I decided that the easy option just isn’t really worth it. If you don’t have that extra hour’s worth of time to dedicate to a real list post, then frankly, don’t bother posting today. I’m kinda bored of it.