4 ms·

This focuses heavily on the wrong side of the 10% rule: For minute details on ANY creation.... only 10% of people who see it will notice. And only 10% of those

by synnik 16y ago

This focuses heavily on the wrong side of the 10% rule: For minute details on ANY creation.... only 10% of people who see it will notice. And only 10% of those who notice will care. If you've got the time and energy to keep that 1% happy, go for it. (And most readers of HN may be in that 1%.) But you should do so AFTER the other 99% are satisfied.

brianmwang 16y ago
Are you really arguing that alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color, and more broadly, overall usability are only relevant to 1% of web users?
- synnik 16y ago
  No -- I am arguing that alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color are only NOTICED and cared about by 1%. Overall usability is what the other 99% care about. And should be of primary importance. Saying that overall usability == "alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color" is just not true. Usability is one type of design. Those are another. They are not synonymous.
  - brianmwang 16y ago
    I would argue that all those things I listed do in fact comprise much of what we understand as usability. Proper layout and good information architecture are built hand in hand with good alignment, consistency, readable fonts, and colors that work well together for the overall design. In order for interfaces to be understandable and easy to use, as well as enable the user to complete the desired objectives, all of the factors I mentioned have to be taken into account. You may say that these factors aren't noticed by the 99% but have you ever heard somebody utter the phrase, "I don't know what's wrong with this, but I just don't like the way it looks?" That's a "99% phrase" but it comes from a very real place and can be easily avoided.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>"This focuses heavily on the wrong side of the 10% rule: For minute details on ANY creation.... only 10% of people who see it will notice. And only 10% of those who notice will care." I see what you're saying but I think you're missing the point that though people will generally not be able to externalise why a design is appealing the effect of the design is still felt. I'd be inclined to agree that perhaps <10% will notice and <10% of those will think that the details attended to will matter. But, I consider that those who are ignorant of the design process and considerations will possibly be the most effected by those changes.
sgdesign 16y ago
I don't believe that the tutorial deals with "minute details" that will only be noticed by 10% of the people. But I'll go along with your point. I think you're coming at this from the wrong point of view. Of course, the other 90% (i.e. what the site actually does, its content, etc.) are more important. But the goal of this tutorial was teaching what I know, i.e. design, and specifically the visual part of web design (i.e. I didn't talk about branding, interaction design, etc.). So that's what I wrote about.

by synnik 16y ago

brianmwang 16y ago

Are you really arguing that alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color, and more broadly, overall usability are only relevant to 1% of web users?

synnik 16y ago
No -- I am arguing that alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color are only NOTICED and cared about by 1%. Overall usability is what the other 99% care about. And should be of primary importance. Saying that overall usability == "alignment, consistency, appropriate typography, non-mediocre use of color" is just not true. Usability is one type of design. Those are another. They are not synonymous.
- brianmwang 16y ago
  I would argue that all those things I listed do in fact comprise much of what we understand as usability. Proper layout and good information architecture are built hand in hand with good alignment, consistency, readable fonts, and colors that work well together for the overall design. In order for interfaces to be understandable and easy to use, as well as enable the user to complete the desired objectives, all of the factors I mentioned have to be taken into account. You may say that these factors aren't noticed by the 99% but have you ever heard somebody utter the phrase, "I don't know what's wrong with this, but I just don't like the way it looks?" That's a "99% phrase" but it comes from a very real place and can be easily avoided.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago

>"This focuses heavily on the wrong side of the 10% rule: For minute details on ANY creation.... only 10% of people who see it will notice. And only 10% of those who notice will care." I see what you're saying but I think you're missing the point that though people will generally not be able to externalise why a design is appealing the effect of the design is still felt. I'd be inclined to agree that perhaps <10% will notice and <10% of those will think that the details attended to will matter. But, I consider that those who are ignorant of the design process and considerations will possibly be the most effected by those changes.

sgdesign 16y ago

I don't believe that the tutorial deals with "minute details" that will only be noticed by 10% of the people. But I'll go along with your point. I think you're coming at this from the wrong point of view. Of course, the other 90% (i.e. what the site actually does, its content, etc.) are more important. But the goal of this tutorial was teaching what I know, i.e. design, and specifically the visual part of web design (i.e. I didn't talk about branding, interaction design, etc.). So that's what I wrote about.