“Rhetorical Web Design: Thinking Critically about Ready-Made Web Templates and the Problem of Ease”

by Jason Tham | Xchanges 12.1

Of Ease & Efficiency: The Problem with Template-Driven Web Designs

Many novice web authors like myself are probably fascinated by our own ability to output the ceremonial “Hello World” post on our first personal homepage on a template-supported platform like WordPress. With only a few clicks, neophyte users are now able to create small-to-large scale websites. Within the past 10 years, many template-driven, ad-supported content management systems¹ (CMS) such as Blogger and WordPress have “eased users into easy web ‘development,’ taking most of the work out of site creation by providing WYSIWYG² content editors and plug-and-play stock themes for easy content creation and styling” (Lindsley, 2013). For beginners, the benefits of these CMSs range from low- to no-cost hosting to ease of site maintenance.

Tom Lindsley (2013), in critiquing prefabricated code lines in web development, contends that ready-to-use templates lead into a flattened learning curve in code literacy. Recently, programming and web writing courses have observed an exploded enrollment of young professionals and students who are eager to learn how to program and develop code literacy. Many open-source communities and individual developers have created open-access frameworks, code libraries, and a wealth of customizable plugins that aid young developers in getting their work done. Many of these frameworks rely on APIs³ (Application Programming Interfaces), which simplify multiline codes for interface interactivity into single-word script lines. While creating and using such frameworks are in the interest of ease and efficiency, novice developers risk relying too heavily on the prefabricated works of others, allowing themselves to focus more on ease than skill (Lindsley, 2013). Such a practice may also misguide developers, causing them to become unaware of the larger cultural and functional contexts within which the technology was developed (Turnley, 2005).

Similarly, novice web designers may risk losing the opportunity to experience context-based web building when they rely on available templates for designing their websites. The overall ease of usability can take away the developer/designer’s ability to exercise rhetorical agency (autonomy) over the development of an interface.

[1] A content management system provides structured content management features such as the ability to store news documents, images, video and any other online content type imaginable.

[2] What You See Is What You Get.

[3] Most operating environments provide an API so that programmers can write applications consistent with the operating environment. For example, Amazon or eBay APIs allow developers to use the existing retail infrastructure to create specialized web stores.