Frustrations

I've been a UI designer now for almost 2.5 years. Recently, I was given a project that seemed like a no-brainer. It was a static page with information which contained "global" information and "local" information. Easy right? Well, for some reason I just couldn't get it right. After multiple iterations, it still didn't look right. I went to my mentor for some feedback, which he also agreed it didn't look right. But after a few minutes of looking at it, he noted that it was a page for "settings".

Today, I showed the design I was working on to another senior designer, to which he noted, "this page has multiple personality disorder. It's for settings, but wants to be more".

So, why didn't I notice that it was a page for settings? Is this about lack of experience? After being in this field for 10 years, will I be able to look at a design and know exactly what its supposed to be?

It was really frustrating. I don't know if I should already know this stuff or what. While, I did learn something about this whole experience, I know next time I work on a page like this, what the expectations are. But, its times like this that I feel like I still have so much more to learn.
But, I guess that's the point.

Thinking about my personal brand

I'm ready to create a new portfolio that deviates from my past portfolios. Though I am a UI designer, I do have a preference for aesthetics, and would like my new portfolio to be more visually appealing than in the past. I have a thing for vintage style from the 20's, 30's and 50's. I'm hoping to create something which reflects one of these decades. I'm also thinking of adding some interactive elements like a gallery or some lightbox effects. I haven't decided yet. This is a departure from my previous designs which have been only in html/css.

Anyhow, as I'm gathering some inspiration for the kind of layout and style I want to adopt for my site, I started to think about my personal brand. What do I stand for? What kind of words do I use to describe myself? How would I want these words to translate into the design for my portfolio? Words are the kernals of creativity in the agency life, and copy has a lot to do with influence of marketing ideas and campaigns. I figured that if I can come up with a list of words that can reflect my brand, then I can start to create my site. The words I want to describe myself as are:
Thorough
Upbeat
Inventive
Curious
I will use these words to guide my design. Should be fun.

Great design

Earlier this week, a few designers got together to discuss great design. What is great design and how can we move toward creating more great experiences? As we went around the room discussing this, iPhone was mentioned repeatedly, as was Google maps. For me, great design isn't just about hollow interaction. Its also about functional. It has to have the perfect combination of interactivity and functionality. And while iPhone is a perfect example of this, I'm hard pressed to think of any web sites recently that have completely amazed me.

Typically, I cite Netflix and Pandora of sites that I think have a great experience. For as much content as Netflix contains, it delivers it concisely and doesn't ever distract the user from its primary task. I love that. The only thing its missing is tags.

Pandora also has a very nice interface. Everything makes sense, its where it should be I know what I'm listening to, and what I've listened to. It's a nice experience and a great product. Pandora uses very subtle visual cues which I also like, because I'm not overwhelmed by imagery and color.

Blogger also has a pretty intituitive interface. The dashboard is nice and clean with all the controls in the right area. I don't have to hunt or search, its all there plus more if I want to do more.

I'm still thinking about this, and will post as I continue to find great design.

Trusting my instincts

In my career as a designer I've noticed two things about myself. My instincts are pretty spot on, and I have a tendency to underestimate myself. This year I've had some great ideas on some of our products and designs, I've pitched them to some of my managers, colleagues and co-workers to a weak reception. Suddenly, a few months later someone important notices the issue and it becomes a priority for someone to fix it. This happened again last week. The only problem is that even though it was my idea, that was overlooked and the project was given to someone else.

I've decided that in order for this to not happen again, I will alert my managers of the issues and jump right into designing the better experience. I think just bringing up the issue isn't enough, but I need to show that I have a better designed experience. Next time, when managers are looking for someone to fix it, I can print out my files and show them my concepts. I chalk this up to a learning experience. I let it happen twice already, and next time I'll be ready.

The process of approaching design

When I began in this career, I would jump right into Visio or design tool and start designing away. I approached problems directly with designing solutions. A couple of years later, I began to extend the myopic focus into a broader context. I now began every project with finding out what the problem is that's being solved. In my experience, product managers sometimes try to fix problems by band aiding the solution. In many cases, this is a cost-saving ploy or maybe they haven't audited the flow to see where the pain points are.

I've begun to start every project with flow audits and replicating the same experience a user may have when encountering our products. Because I work at a company that has a lot of resources in which to use, this sometimes means looking at Site Catalyst data, or digging up Customer Service call data to see where the pain points are. When applicable, I try to talk to the main users of the product to see how they use the information. I've learned that solid and thoughtful design means starting from the research and working into formulating a solution. Sometimes its as simple as rearranging how information is shown, sometimes its as complex as redesigning the entire flow.

I try to abide by the "keep it simple" rule. As a designer, you become very knowledgeable on the product you are designing, and its easy to get carried away in the complexity of it. Adding additional features sometimes seems like a benefit, until you take a step back and realize that the original goal has been lost. In the process of designing, I take a few breaks and walk around to refresh my thinking. When I get back to my desk and view my design, often I'll print it out and show one of my peers unfamiliar to the project if they understand. I do this because I think its important to have a fresh set of eyes on the design.

I believe good design should be clear even to someone unfamiliar with the project. They should look at the design and understand immediately which actions the user should take, which information is important, and what the overall goals on the page are. The next steps I take are putting the entire flow together and review with the team. I'll post on that later.

Britney Spears: Photoshopped.

Apparently a vandal in Berlin felt it necessary to remind us what the secret of beauty is... Photoshop. Oh, we all do it. There's not one facebook picture that escapes the smudge tool and brightening effect in Photoshop before it gets posted. Don't judge!

I'm just intrigued someone had the wherewithal to create Photoshop UI stickers. Wish I would have thought of that.

Via jezebel

Designer 101

I have often struggled with the fact that I've only been in this industry for a little over 2 years, and will probably not say anything that someone else hasn't already said or has spoken about. I decided that this blog is for me to have a chance to really think about design on my terms and because by writing, I'm able to expose thoughts I hadn't necessarily realized I've been thinking about.


My first job as an interaction designer focused on the interactivity and engagement of the user but in the marketing context. Most of the pages I worked on were short lived and very marketing-ish. After leaving that job, I started working on more traditional UI design, which tended to focus on task completion and form design and all the specifics of where to place a button on a page and how that influences user behavior.


After working in this industry for a relatively short time, I've learned that there is almost always two different ways to influence user behavior:


1. To support the business goals

2. To support user goals


This tension exists and it is up to the designer to weigh out the options and design with these in mind. I often find that I literally cannot sleep at night if I design something that I know will piss off or irritate users. Often times, our business partners will want a solution which is great on the bottom line, but will alienate users over the long run. As a designer, it is up to us to make sure our business partners know that good design will still support business goals, but it may not be the cheapest option from the top.

I've also learned that its okay to make mistakes as long as you can learn from them, which is a philosophy which applies generally to life.

I'm excited to start this blog which has been something I've wanted to do for awhile, but felt I wasn't seasoned enough to do so. I have start somewhere I figured, might as well be now.