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Ask HN: How do you prevent wasting time on the arbitrary details of web design?
I'm extremely detailed when designing user interfaces in order to be pixel perfect. On the surface this seems like a good quality to have, however, I find my self wasting hours on the smallest, most minute details. I also have a hard time making decisions about the layout that are quite arbitrary (meaning either decision results in an acceptable design).
How do you handle these tiny details and decisions? Is this a common problem for designers, or am I simply too indecisive?
Thanks guys.
- anthony_franco 15y agoI'm not sure how connected you are to the rest of your project. But for me, I find that actually launching the product to users helps me focus a ton more. I stop caring about the colors of buttons, the positions of signup forms, and move on to the features that make the most impact.
- kurtvarner 15y agoI'm the only person involved with the project, so it's difficult because I have no input from anyone else. I also feel a strong sense of ownership over it, which makes me obsess on the details like button color, text positioning, etc. Overall though, I see what your saying. Those little details don't matter in the big picture.
- nostrademons 15y agoA/B test them. Pick something arbitrary that looks pretty good for the initial version (like the initial top-ads color for Google's May 2010 websearch redesign was "Cosmic Latte", the average color of the universe). Make it configurable in the source code, either through template variables or frameworks like Sass. Then vary one parameter at a time and measure your business metrics, and do what the data tells you to do. It's important for designers to get the big-picture stuff right, like page layout and interaction model. For pixel-perfectness, just do what the data tells you.
- kurtvarner 15y agoI agree about the importance of A/B testing, but it's not realistic to split test details like 16pt vs 18pt font, slight gradient changes, small text positioning, etc. But you're right about designers understanding and focusing on the big picture. It's just hard for my mind not to get lost in the details.
- nostrademons 15y agoWhy not? Google does that all the time. Those are perhaps the easiest details to test. If you're using a framework like A/Bingo, it's literally one line of code.
- tronathan 15y agoI am so concerned about all the other work that has to be done that I tend to fall on the other side of the spectrum; get the design to an 'acceptable' place and move on. My attitude is something along the lines of 'If you're not freaking out, you're not working hard enough' That said, I still havent launched publically, mostly because of all the 'details' of which you speak (core product works but is ugly).