January 14, 2004 | View Comments (10) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: What makes a successful design for a website.
We all know (or at least attempt to believe) that there is no such thing as perfect web design, but what constitutes a successful design? I know an easy answer might be that "whatever makes the client happy" is a successful design or where "the goals of the company are fulfilled." But is it really that easy? I think when you break it down to just client and customer you are forgetting one major element, the designer.
On major websites achieving all the goals of the site is a major task all on its own so I do not mean to belittle the fact that if you fulfill all of these goals you have failed. But successful design has to mean a little more than that. As of right now we are caught in the era of user-centered design (UCD) where everything we design is to be done for the sake of the user. This is very important and will help not only websites, but everyday products. Amazon does almost everything that its users want it to do and the company seems to be doing pretty well so it must be successful design, right?
I would have to say that satisfying the users and the clients is only part of the equation. Too many times as designers I think we neglect our own feelings towards a design. I am going to add another element to the equation of successful design and that is the feelings of the designer on his finished project. I have done websites that did everything the client asked of me. The site got higher rankings in search engines. The growth of the site's community was exponential over a short period. Yet looking back at it, I am not pleased at all with the design.
Maybe I am just too hard on myself because the time constraints to build and design the site were very short so I know I did the best I could do...I think. So basically, I did what the client wanted, I did what the user wanted, and I did what I could do given the time, yet I look back at it as not being successful. Why? Because I am not pleased with looking at it now. I created a successful design for everyone, but me.
Very rarely do I come across a design that I am proud of doing for an extended period of time. I can't tell if I am short changing myself or really setting my expectations too high. This site is the first time in a while I would say that I have accomplished my own successful design because I fulfilled the needs of the audience (I hope) and I can actually look at the site myself and just focus on writing for it. It's amazing how difficult it can be to write something when all you think about is how you wish to change everything. I no longer have that feeling. I have achieved my first successful design of the year.
I suppose then that successful design can mean different things to different sets of people. For the user, if they can accomplish what they wanted on the site with relative ease then the design is successful. For a company if the site fulfills all of the company's goals along with the users then it is a successful design. As for me, a successful design acoomplishes the goals of the user, the company, and myself.
A lot of us are designing websites because that is what we enjoy to do. If we do not begin to recognize that a successful design should take into account how we feel about the design, then I think we begin to despise what we do. And life is really no fun if you can't enjoy what you are doing.
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Well said Paul. I agree with all your comments here, but to play devil's advocate... how many times have we seen web sites designed with only the designer in mind? I can think back to all of those sites we saw in the late '80s and early '90s and how much of the design was about the ego of the designer. We have come a long ways over the last few years. In short, yes, we must design for all three at the same time, but not for a single one alone: the client, the user, and the designer.
Nick (http://www.digital-web.com)
Nick: I was hoping to catch you on the late '80's thing, but looks like you caught it. I think a lot of the sites you still come across on linkdup and k10k are still sites that are just for the designer only. I guess that's why I tried define a successful design as one that satisfies the user, client, and designer.
Successful design to me is also something stands the test of time. I mean there are so many times I grow frustrated with a design that I will tweak towards something that I like, but that will only last for a couple hours/days/weeks. Once I can get design a site that I am comfortable with (along with the user and client of course) and I can look at over an extended period of time, then I feel I have been successful.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
I don't design pages that are media heavy. I enjoy the challenge of UCD, and I code for accessibility, usability and some aesthetic value as well (!). I'm not that fantastic a designer (yet ;)), and so I could never build a Flash orientated site and be happy with it. I'm quite happy to stick with s, CSS and coding the web the way it was meant to be coded.
David House
I also agree with what Nick said and I understand where you're coming from Paul. I encounter the same issue a lot too. I'll put together a design, like it, and then a couple of weeks later I start to lose enthusiasm for it.
I think it's due to two things, at least for me.
1. I tend to get too "used" to a design if I stare at it for too long. Maybe because it looses its freshness. But I think its also due to the constant need/want to be creative...which is why we are designers...we like to create.
2. I always have a sense, or vision, of the general look and feel and function of a design in my head. It takes a lot of practice to get that onto paper or screen the first time around. Normally, it takes a few times to get something the way I really like it. I've become better at this over time, but still have a long way to go.
I'm currently going through the last redesign on http://www.designdojo.ca . I'm not overly sure on how "successful" it will be, but I will be satisfied for quite a while. And I think that is the key. I can never expect to always be 95-100% satisfied with a design because new trends will come along and new ideas will inspire me. I'll always be looking for a better design, but at least a few people stop and say they like what I am doing along the way. Maybe success is only ever temporary...never permanent...
Sam Royama (http://www.designdojo.ca)
I love the way Asterisk* and Whitespace seem to piggy-back off each other. Like a game of ping-pong!
Anyways, I agree. And this would apply to any profession. If a doctor isn't satisfied with a particular treatment, but it does everything the patient needs and wants, is it truly an adequate (successful) treatment to go with?
A person enters a profession because he or she is interested in it, and either acquires or naturally has the skills and tuning required. If a professional isn't happy with his or her work, he or she is either being to demanding (which can be a motivation to achieve perfection, though it can be unhealthy) or the work truly just isn't up to par.
Dris (http://dris.webhop.org/)
Well one day I aspire to the greatness of Keith, so really I just copy what he says :)
Great point about profession and caring. I find really though that most of the web designers who really care about what they do belong to the independent web community and actively particiapte in it, via blogs or comments.
I still fail to see how someone could go through their life not really caring if they should be proud of their work or not though. No wonder so many people aren't happy working.
Sam: Yes it is kind of a negative/positive thing in regards to design and caring about it. Sometimes I can get so involved in achieving what I have in my mind that I find myself going crazy. Sometimes, especially when working on projects, I have to realize that their are constraints, like time, that make me realize that what I have done, just has to be good enough. I wish it weren't so, but reality tends to disagree with me.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
Too true, too true... If only we could find a way to escape it...
[insert two hours worth of pretentious BS here (hat tip to Keith)]
...and that is how this all relates to the coming fourth iteration of the Matrix.
In all seriousness though, too many people do go through life without enjoying what they do. When I complete a project, there's a sense of pride in that completion, even when there are things that I realize could have been done better. I also hope that, in some small sense, I'm making a difference.
Dris (http://dris.webhop.org/)
I think another issue, which is also pretty big in web design, is that many people enter this field because they see it as an easy way to make money. If that is the case then of course your only definition of success is "getting paid". I used to laugh at the thought of a "starving artist" and all that they believed in, but I am starting to see that many web designers follow that description all too well.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
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#1
Great post once again Scrivs.
Successful design, for me at least, is when i can combine all the elements into one package that a)functions well, b)looks great and c)is in line with my personal design philosophies.
If a client is not in agreement with certain parts of my design, I always come back with solid reasoning for doing something a certain way, if what they want changed is worth the fight. If it is not a crucial part of the design of the site, i can let it go.
There are instances when I have put out designs that I was not 100% comfortable about. But when you are dealing with a client and they want it their way or the highway, it's not a hard decision to make. Usually you can make some sort of compromise that at least lets you feel half-as-good about the product.
Successful design from the standpoint of design is really wide open. Someone designing sites using Microsoft Frontpage may think their sites are successful because they look good in IE, they have those cool "swooshy" page changes, and it was easy to build. On the other hand, someone like myself who is committed to web standards, may think the site is a piece of garbage. The frontpage designer may think my sites look like crap because they don't have beveled buttons and a scrolling marquee.
Successful web design from a design standpoint is really in the eye of the beholder.
Successful web design from a usability and accessibility standpoint is easier to define in my opinion. If someone designs a site that looks great with cool graphics, the perfect color scheme, and all the latest wizbang tricks, but an impaired visitor can't see the site because all they get on their screen readers are [INLINE], then that is unsuccessful design.
Jeremy Flint (http://www.jeremyflint.com)