What's wrong with Design ?

February 17, 2016 by Unknown

I'm not a very perceptive person. Like most people, I think I'm a good observer, while in reality I sometimes have to flip out my phone and use Google maps to navigate to the bank. But in the last year, I started to observe. I learnt much more than I normally used to. On the web, I began to browse through lots of websites and articles. I also checked out some mobile apps. During the whole process, some issues really caught my attention. And in this post, I'll be stating my views on one of those - bad design patterns.

By 'bad', it's not only the visual aspect that I'm concerned about, it's also the how the website/app works. How easily a newcomer can navigate through its interface, the amount of clicks required to execute a specific action compared to it's specificity, how well the elements on the page respond to users' input are things that really matter. Of course, all of these are related to User Experience, but even these have to be 'designed' before being put into code.

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I've seen traces of terrible design across many apps and websites, and that also includes popular ones. While some offer great usability, they have looks that make me cringe. On the other hand, some look really good, but can be quite tough to browse through. And then there are some which are good at neither of the two (the website of my local electricity board is one of them). It is definitely not easy to find a good balance between form and function, but it is really important that we do. To do the same, we have to get to know what we're doing wrong, and that is exactly what this article will help you with.

Design is thought to be solely based on 'beauty'. This is a wrong notion that people have. They think that design is all about making beautiful interfaces; the rest is secondary. And obviously, this is a bad trend. As human beings, we know that a man's looks does not, and cannot define his character. You cannot get by with just your looks. And this applies to digital design as well. Dribbble gets many submissions daily, and most of them look great at first glance. But if observed from a practical side, only a handful of these designs comply with the general definition of good design. Most others indicate that the maker was too concerned about impressing his peers, rather than working on a design solution that would actually matter. Dieter Rams, renowned industrial designer states, "Good design is thorough down to the last detail – Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.". Designers need to think of every step they make in the process in order to make a product that is representative of a creative mind.

Then there are designers who think that they've learnt everything about design. For them, learning is no longer something that they think they'll have to do. This usually happens to people who have recently gotten into the design bandwagon. Some of them do have a solid foundation, but most of them work as if they are competing with others as a means to achieve self satisfaction. In doing so, they make hurried decisions and take 'shortcuts' in the hopes of making something beautiful. In the end, their work ends up not looking as was initially planned. But they make up their mind that they have achieved exactly what they had aimed for. They continue with the same methodology, thus making little to no actual progress, and missing out on great learning opportunities. They go on to become 'bad' designers. But bad designers do not realise that they are bad. They either avoid pointing out faults or mistakes in their own work, or are afraid of criticism. These designers need to realise that mistakes are inevitable; even the best in the job make mistakes. Mistakes constantly remind us that we have yet to learn a lot to be able to work to our best potential.

A parrot behind a desk gives a lecture to a winged female audience. - Vie privée - Here, describing how everyone's going with the flow.

Trends have always been something which people follow. And the decision that they make to follow these trends is not always a conscious one. Designers follow trends because they think that by basing their designs on popular concepts they'll keep the users engaged. While this may sound like a good thing, on the other hand the designers suffer. They begin to think lesser, because each time they sit down to work on something new, they realise they already have a set of skeletons ready in mind. This, over time, curbs creativity. I'm not implying that one should use every ounce of thought; overthinking can instead make the task feel unnecessarily complex. Making good UI and solving users' problems isn't always easy, but that should not stop us from thinking. That being said, having good knowledge of design trends is necessary, as it helps us understand the thought patterns of users, and how they evolve from time to time. Understanding this will aid us in being creative with our designs while keeping them acceptable to users.

The current state of digital design is certainly not at its best. There's huge potential for us to change our approach to the same, and in effect differentiate the good examples from the bad. When these differences are made clear to others, design as a whole will develop for the better. The aim as a designer should be to establish a successful communication with the end user. This aim can be achieved in different ways. Our motive should be to use unique ways to reach the same goal, using the point-of-view of the end user. This does not mean trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather creating with the wheel as the basis.

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