May 12, 2006
MarkBernstein.org
 

One Page Sites

37 Signals comes up with an interesting survey of one-page web site designs.

The one-page site is an interesting kind of minimalism. And since minimalism is 37 Signals' stock in trade, the survey makes a lot of sense. If you're thinking about a Personal Information Page (and if you don't have one, you should think about it!) and want design ideas, it's an interesting place to start.

One of the keys to one-page sites is that they need to be beautifully honed and extremely well written. At the same time, the one-page site probably needs to change often; even a minimalist has a lot to say. Tinderbox might help a lot.

Fifteen years ago, after a lecture on the exotic new technology of hypertext to a conference of tech writers, I was asked, "What sort of document won't work as hypertext?" I replied, "Business cards!"

But a one-page site is a business card, or (if you're not a business person) a visiting card. You never know.