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Designers deserve every bit of this stereotyping. There was a time when designers were taught to value fitness for use. Now "design" seems to be exclusively abo

Designers deserve every bit of this stereotyping. There was a time when designers were taught to value fitness for use. Now "design" seems to be exclusively about aesthetics. This may be rooted in how designers are taught or simply in how they now practice. Or it could be that managers insist on aesthetics-only, in which case designers need to push back hard. Whatever the cause it's a failure on the part of designers and their profession, and they deserve criticism for it.

achow 7y ago
> This may be rooted in how designers are taught or simply in how they now practice No course or degree on interaction design - free online to ivy leagues across the world - teaches 'design for aesthetics' and neither do designers in design departments of startups or of big corporates have design sprints where designs are shortlisted because one is more beautiful than others. Infact 'Design Sprint' [0] 'Design Thinking' [1] are things because design is about problem solving. I understand majority in HN are engineers/developers but that is no reason to make this is a tech echo chamber. [0] https://www.gv.com/sprint/ https://www.gv.com/sprint/ [1] https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-thinking https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-think...
- dreamcompiler 7y ago
  I'll take your word for that, and I'm also encouraged by your comments. Nevertheless it's clear from their products that Apple in recent years became infected with an "aesthetics is all that matters" approach to design. So maybe my general complaint should be narrowed from "modern designers" to simply "Jony Ive and those who emulate him" while still admiring designers who carry on the traditions exemplified by e.g. Raymond Loewy, Ray Eames, and Herman Miller.
com2kid 7y ago
> There was a time when designers were taught to value fitness for use. I've worked with designers who I saw specifically laying elements out so as to avoid the issue the article author's wife ran into. There is a problem though. Phone screens are of variable height, and user's can change their font settings. While this issue shouldn't happen with default settings with OEM apps or UX elements, it is not possible to avoid it completely given the exact wrong set of circumstances lining up. Of course, not hiding the scroll bar would be best, and ideal is having multiple affordances, such as partially clipped content and a scroll bar.

achow 7y ago

> This may be rooted in how designers are taught or simply in how they now practice No course or degree on interaction design - free online to ivy leagues across the world - teaches 'design for aesthetics' and neither do designers in design departments of startups or of big corporates have design sprints where designs are shortlisted because one is more beautiful than others. Infact 'Design Sprint' [0] 'Design Thinking' [1] are things because design is about problem solving. I understand majority in HN are engineers/developers but that is no reason to make this is a tech echo chamber. [0] https://www.gv.com/sprint/ https://www.gv.com/sprint/ [1] https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-thinking https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-think...

dreamcompiler 7y ago
I'll take your word for that, and I'm also encouraged by your comments. Nevertheless it's clear from their products that Apple in recent years became infected with an "aesthetics is all that matters" approach to design. So maybe my general complaint should be narrowed from "modern designers" to simply "Jony Ive and those who emulate him" while still admiring designers who carry on the traditions exemplified by e.g. Raymond Loewy, Ray Eames, and Herman Miller.

com2kid 7y ago

> There was a time when designers were taught to value fitness for use. I've worked with designers who I saw specifically laying elements out so as to avoid the issue the article author's wife ran into. There is a problem though. Phone screens are of variable height, and user's can change their font settings. While this issue shouldn't happen with default settings with OEM apps or UX elements, it is not possible to avoid it completely given the exact wrong set of circumstances lining up. Of course, not hiding the scroll bar would be best, and ideal is having multiple affordances, such as partially clipped content and a scroll bar.