Learning Reflections / 5
I haven't actively been designing for a few years now. And for the past year, I've been focusing so heavily on UX research techniques. This week was a needed reminder about how important good design creates the backbone of good UX.
I looked at a lot of bad design this week. Why is this so entertaining? We all know outright bad design when we see it. But I think we are far more likely to encounter so-so design every day. How does so-so design or even good (but not great) design affect the user experience?
This week at work we ran a study on a service we offer that few people are taking advantage of. We have an email and a mailer promoting the service. But watching people interact with and react to these promotional pieces really brought home how critical great design is. It's not everything. Concise messaging, clear calls-to-action, compelling value propositions all matter very much, too. But I saw how ineffective design can prevent people from understanding a really great offer and taking the action we so wanted them to.
Great design comes from designers with inherent visual talent, true. But it's just as likely to come from a designer who has worked hard to understand the rules, the science, the technique of great design that's come down through the ages. This is design that relies on understanding our uniquely human way of viewing the world.
I looked at a lot of bad design this week. Why is this so entertaining? We all know outright bad design when we see it. But I think we are far more likely to encounter so-so design every day. How does so-so design or even good (but not great) design affect the user experience?
This week at work we ran a study on a service we offer that few people are taking advantage of. We have an email and a mailer promoting the service. But watching people interact with and react to these promotional pieces really brought home how critical great design is. It's not everything. Concise messaging, clear calls-to-action, compelling value propositions all matter very much, too. But I saw how ineffective design can prevent people from understanding a really great offer and taking the action we so wanted them to.
Great design comes from designers with inherent visual talent, true. But it's just as likely to come from a designer who has worked hard to understand the rules, the science, the technique of great design that's come down through the ages. This is design that relies on understanding our uniquely human way of viewing the world.
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