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To make a counter-argument: I previously worked at a larger e-commerce company with a very strong design department. Working with the design team was not always
by shoto_io 6y ago
To make a counter-argument: I previously worked at a larger e-commerce company with a very strong design department. Working with the design team was not always easy because they had their own ideas about what customers wanted/prefer. They also had their own ideas about what is morally acceptable to implement and what is not. Within the company, they almost had their own culture. As a result, we had no "dark patterns," which was a good thing.
In some cases, however, it became clear that their design/aesthetics thinking was more important to them than user experience. For example, when we displayed prices on mobile devices, we did not include a CTA. My team persuaded them to conduct a simple A/B test on mobile with an arrow button next to prices. As a result, conversion increased by 10%. People simply did not realize they could continue to the next step by clicking on the price. The design team despised the button, but it enabled customers to complete their tasks on our website.
- nbzso 6y agoMy personal opinion is that this is the result of "low quality" of design education. When you separate intellectual and practical processes you cannot crate meaning. Example of top of my head: Bauhaus revolution was possible because of practical approach towards design. Designers that prefer aesthetic over product function are actually not professionals. Designers that have no insight in technical implementation are not capable to design properly. To design properly, one must rely on deep knowledge of classical principles and actual data. P.S. This counter-argument sounds more like "management and communication" problem.
- shoto_io 6y agoYes, maybe you’re right. But in this case at least the problem was clearly “located” in the design departement.
- gedy 6y agoI think this highlights that graphic designers are not necessarily good UI designers.
- nbzso 6y agoYes and no. The foundations of design are aesthetics and critical thinking. Every design has technical and functional specification. If one designs a car, one must know what is "packaging". If one designs for print, one must know the printing process. If one designs for UI, one must know the medium inside out. There is no generalisation. I can argue that todays UI designers have lack of design foundation, color theory, composition, typography and are producing colourful, non-functional garbage. Example: The lack of contrast in mass adopted UI trends is not only aesthetically wrong but actually is an accessibility problem.