I’ve been reminded a lot lately — especially with the releases of The Better Project and the good showing that Kindling made at the Web 2.0 Expo last week — that the best compliment you can get on a UI is that the product makes a difference in someone’s work, or let’s someone do something they couldn’t or didn’t want to do before, or makes twenty minutes a day a little more fun.
It’s not “Wow, that looks great”. It’s not “What a slick interface”. It’s not even “Users probably love this” (which is a different way of saying, mostly, “That’s a pretty UI”). I’d much rather hear “What a great idea for an app” or “I could see myself using this every day” or “How am I working without this?”. That means the UI is doing its job: getting out of the way of content and utility.
If you’re designing to make something look good, you’re probably going down the wrong path. Focus on providing something that’s going to make someone’s life a little better after they use it. That’s a compliment you want.
Zach said:
This is especially hard because you get a lot more positive immediate feedback if you do design for looks rather than function. Only usability geeks will go AH YES INDEED THAT WILL NICELY STREAMLINE THE WORKFLOW. That usually only comes after using the product for a while. Most people will just tell you that you need more color or a flashy background or something. The trick is to surround yourself by those that give you the right kind of input, which can be hard if your the only designer in your outfit.
Sita Bhatt said:
The same goes for content design or information architecture. Its not “how much” – its “how well”. I also feel content should be used as part of a design, and not as a separate component e.g. headings as separators.
Tyler G said:
I agree with you to a point on this one. You’re definitely right on the best compliment being the user having a worthwhile, effective experience.
The part I would not totally agree with is the start of the last paragraph. “If you’re designing to make something look good, you’re probably going down the wrong path.” As a designer, I approach every design project with the mindset that not only am I trying to design in a way that makes the site, application, etc. as user friendly as possible, I’m also working toward making it the best visual design as possible, or “look good”. Visual design is something that, to the average end user, is usually only noticeable if it is done wrong. In my opinion, taking the extra time to treat every design as a piece of art, and working toward making that art as beautiful as possible, is taking another step toward an exceptional end-user experience. Even if that step isn’t explicitly noticed by the user, if it isn’t there they will be able to tell that something is off even if they can’t put their finger on exactly what it is.
Chris LoSacco said:
@Tyler, I agree! I’d put one small tweak on what you said: I think that good designers are able to use visual design as another tool to make a better experience.
You’re absolutely right that we can notice when things don’t seem right, or don’t look/feel appealing. It’s something that naturally happens. It would be wrong for designers to ignore that this is happening, for sure.
Maybe what I should have said, instead, is “If you’re designing only to make something look good…”
sha said:
well said