Business of Good and Bad Web Design

I recently stumbled upon a blog post on seomoz and I read a lot about this particular topic.

That was posted back in 2k6, maybe a bit late, but it caught my attention on how politically incorrect it really was. As a designer, I do know what he is saying, there is nothing incorrect about it, but what is incorrect is to assume that you, as a designer, are right, and the design that you have created for a particular site is flawless unless it is your own site.
The problem is that it is perfect in the eyes of the designer and maybe design standards (Colors, Grids, etc…) but NOT in favor of the client, or its customers. It seems that a lot of designers want a good “looking” site in their portfolio to get some sort of attention and glorification for their work from other designers, but that is the WRONG way. Especially from a business stand point.
It is how flash kills usability. Having a flash intros and slow animated navigation that look “COOL” is nice, and good to throw up in your portfolio, but it does not drive sales, it’s just eye candy, and in turn will probably drive away sales.

The Blog post states…
As a professional web designer I’ve noticed a consistent trend in the majority of the projects I’ve worked on: The more time that is spent dissecting, analyzing, and critiquing a design by the wrong kinds of people the worse that design gets

Note the use of “Wrong kinds of people”, I can assume this means the RIGHT kind of people are other designers. Then the poster goes on to saying how the wrong kinds of people are retarded, and stupid and do not know what they are talking about.

From a Real world perspective

The problem seems that designers are easily offended by critiques of their work. I am also a victim of this, and it feels terrible, especially when you do think the design is AWSOME. This is because 90%, oh… wait, make that 98% of the people who surf the internet do not know what a good design is, because they are NOT designers. So calling these people stupid, is a little farfetched considering these are the people you are really designing for. Clients also do not know what a good design is, they do not know about analogous and complements color schemes, use of grids, the golden rule, they do not know what CSS is, or XHTML (Most)… nor do they care. Most do not even care about fancy shiny buttons or gradients, same goes for people visiting a website. While colors psychologically might make a person purchase a product more than another color, no matter what the client is always right it’s their website, not the designers, yet a lot of designers seem to make it out like it is their site.

Some designers do not seem to take the time to understand what the client is looking for, or what they think looks good. You can suggest what will work and what wont, you can doubt their ideas, and hopefully they will let you take control, but if you want to satisfy the client for the sake of business, they are correct, ALWAYS. Most web design business comes from existing customers, referrals, etc…. and you cannot get this business from unsatisfied clients. If a Client says “it does not feel right” then that’s perfectly fine, you give them what they want, even if you think it sucks. In the end, it’s not about your EGO, and your portfolio. Sure it helps, but only those who will recognize your excellent work are those who are designers (and a select few people that know what looks good), and you won’t get jobs from other designers, so who cares??????
In the blog post, it’s clear that they have identified a trend, and that clearly reflects the REAL WORLD… people just want the content and the information they require… they do not care about fancy design, as long as it’s EASY to use, and they find what they are looking for.

So, in the End, it’s about the Client. If the client shows you a web site they like, and it’s a good design, your golden, but if they show you a website that looks like something from back in the 90s…. then that’s fine, terrible, but fine, the client is always right. You can suggest something better, but if they don’t like it, do not get mad, do not question them, just do it. If you are ashamed, don’t put it in your portfolio, but chances are normal people looking at your portfolio won’t care if the design looks web2.0’ish and all fancy, long as it works for them, and in the end, they will bring you business. There are people who do know what good design is, and you will get your chance to show off your skills, but in the meantime, understand that most people do not know what they want, EVER! We are just like that
What makes a good design is navigation, number of clicks to find proper information, and the information / web copy itself. Plus having it fast loading helps, but some fancy web site with gradients and shadows, and other eye candy is not even needed, and probably 70% of the internet is filled with designs that are not up to par with current design trends. (Just a guess, I could not bother to look it up, lol)
However, if a client does not care, then give him your BEST, and if they say “it don’t feel right” then work with them to figure it out, and send more than one mock up until you narrow down what they really want without compromising design quality. It’s not a beauty contest, it’s a JOB. Sometimes having nice sites get you high paying jobs from those who WANT nice designs, and if you can afford to reject those who do not want a nice design, then by all means go ahead, there are several design companies that do this. However, for those who want to satisfy everyone and do good business, then just give the client what they want, and critiques from other people might more reflect the real world than you think despite the fact they “may” be wrong. Just try to compensate.

I hope this helps people just starting out especially, take everything you can until you can get to the point where you will only do good design. But if you’re just in the business to make money, then take in as many clients as you can handle, and if you find they keep coming and its more than you alone can handle, then Expand

April 12th, 2008 - Posted in Web Design | | 0 Comments