Slashdotted today a wired story on harmonious website design according to Vastu, ‘the Indian counterpart of feng shui’. The graphic accompanying the story has an analysis of Slashdot’s design by Dr. Smita Narang. Her verdict? This site is ‘in desperate need of balance. Personally I don’t agree at all with the analysis, and if it is really what the “Vastu” say about web design, it won’t be a good method to decide about the quality of a website.
Thirty-year-old Smita Narang is rapidly becoming one of India’s hottest Web designers. Her method: applying vastu shastra, the Indian counterpart of feng shui, to the online realm. The process entails mapping page attributes – HTML, colors, graphics – to elements like fire, water, and air. ‘Any disturbance of these established elements can cause an imbalance in the site that directly affects its business,’ Narang says
