Don’t Be So Quick To Criticize

I ran across an interesting article entitled “Six Things User Experience Designer Forget When They Criticize Websites” that discusses how UX designer are quick to criticize before understanding why certain decisions were made. This is something that I have caught myself doing.

In fact, recently, I was helping out a friend who is starting her own business. She has never created a web site, but had found a hosting company who catered to non- technical people. The site she came up with wasn’t what I would have done and I was quick to think about a million things she did wrong. Fortunately, I didn’t spit all of those out to her because it wouldn’t have sounded constructive at all which is what she asked for.

Once we were able to sit down to talk, I asked her what the purpose of the site was and who the target audience is. These two questions are critical for me to provide the best site design possible. After finding out those answers, several of the things I was criticizing actually made sense for her site. I was amazed at the amount of research she had done to come up with what she did and she was able to defend a lot of the decisions. Not all clients can do this, but when they can, it is very helpful.

One of the main points in the article talks about how business decisions can sometimes trump the user experience. In this example that was exactly what happened. Hopefully, when it does happen it’s not such a poor user experience that it hinders the bottom line.

Understanding Programing – The Pros and Cons

In a recent lecture Dr. Oren mentioned having the ability to code is an extremely good skill to have and I would agree. I discovered many years ago after doing basic coding in ColdFusion and PHP that I don't particularly like it because it's extremely frustrating for me. However, I like to code in HTML and CSS. These two tend to be a more visual way to code at least that's how I look at it.

Either way, understanding different languages of coding is a good skill even if you can't code things yourself. In many cases, I'm able to tweak code that someone else has written or at the very least understand how and why a programmer may ask the questions they do.

Another skill that is very valuable for me in my daily routine is the understanding of databases and data fields. This is especially important when designing data-driven sites, but even something as simple as a form. Knowing how a simple name change of a field could cause issues within a database, understanding the different data types and lengths and why they are important.

Both of these skills can also help in bridging the gap between the business/client and the designer/programmer. This has been a skill set that I didn't develop on purpose; it just worked out that way.

I found this article by Jared Spool who discusses three ways in which knowing how to code could make you a better designer.

http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/06/06/3-reasons-why-learning-to-code-makes-you-a-better-designer/

Error Pages on a Web Site

There is nothing I hate more than receiving an error page that doesn’t tell me what happened or how to fix it. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are with your site design, errors can happen especially with sites that are more data-driven. I’ll admit even though this is a personal pet peeve of mine, I still don’t give error pages a thought until they pop up.

Since these pages are likely to pop up from time to time, you need to think about their design and how to get the person back on track. The message should do the following:

• Explain what happened and why
• Explain how to fix it or who to call

It’s really that simple. Regarding the actual design, the second most important thing after the message is the design. The error page should look just like your site. Some people argue that a “cutesy” design for these messages is not a good business practice, but I think it really depends upon the site and audience.

Here are a few sites of some really good and sometimes funny 404-error page designs:

• http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/404-error-pages-for-your-viewing-pleasure
• http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2010/11/50-professional-and-creative-404-error-page-designs.html

Usability blogs to follow

I have to admit I spend a lot of time reading various blog posts. Some which aren’t relevant to this class, but the majority of them are. Most of the blogs I have run across via Twitter or just through a specific search only to discover the whole site had excellent content.

Here are some of the blogs I read the most and consistently go back to when I’m looking for specific web design information or inspiration.

• SmashingMagazine.com
• WebDesignerDepot.com
• TheWebBlend.com
• WhatMakesThemClick.net

Mashable.com is one of my favorites as well because it covers a wide range of topics especially trending items and more social media.

Many of these sites provide inspiration for my personal blog. I try to write every week although that’s really tough with school sometimes. However, at a minimum, I re-tweet or re-post others articles so at least their content is shared as many ways as possible.

My personal blog can be found at spoiledogs.com and I’m on Twitter @spoulson22.

Two excellent usability books

I was introduced to “Letting Go of the Words” by Ginny Redish last year. Although it’s been around for several years, it’s still a fantastic book and very easy to read.

The book focuses on the actual content of the website and not just the design or functionality. Redish discusses a wide range of topics which all apply to the user experience.

For example:

• Breaking up the text using headings, subheads, and bulleted lists.
• Writing links that are meaningful.
• Making sure your site is accessible to everyone.

All of the advice Redish provides in the book still hinges on understanding the target audience and the purpose of the site. The content of the site often gets overlooked since it’s usually the last thing to do and money and time are running out.

Another valuable book is “Usability for the Web” by Tom Brinck, Darren Gergle & Scott D. Wood. It provides a comprehensive discussion of website usability. The book provides 450 pages of usability advice. It’s broken down into easy sections allowing you to jump to the areas you may need; however, I would recommend reading the whole book.

Here is a list of the sections:

• Pervasive Usability
• Requirements Analysis
• Conceptual Design
• Mockups and Prototypes
• Production
• Launch
• Evaluation

I read this book initially when it came out in 2002; however, I have referenced it a lot since then.

Functionality vs. Aesthetics?

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs.

This is one of my favorite design quotes because it ties in both aesthetics and functionality. While it’s not imperative these two go together; however, when they do and work well together it can be amazing.

Of course, the harmony of functionality and aesthetics seems like a no brainer, it’s typically not that easy to achieve.
As stated in Alan Cooper’s book, About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, “… the people who are most often responsible for the creation of our digital products rarely take into account the users’ goals, needs, or motivations, and the same time tend to be highly reactive to market trends and technical constraints.”

In working in corporate environments, I have seen this constant struggle between the IT department and the business. Even with the best business requirements, the IT department still has a lot of power especially if the business has no technical expertise, which is normally the case. To me this in between role, many times the business analyst or UX consultant, is the key to achieving the best design without sacrificing functionality.