Most of the projects I work on are for design agencies – they design how the site or web app should look, and then bring it to us to attach the electrodes, crank up the power and bring their creation to life.
One thing that every project has in common is that there’s always a bit more to be designed than is apparent at the surface level. Even a simple five-page brochure site has more to think about than the layout and content of the five main pages. There’s things like the site map, accessibility statements and legal pages. If your site has forms — even a simple contact form — you need to think about the messaging around it. What does the user see when the form has been completed? What’s in the email that is generated?
The reality is that in most cases there are lots of details that don’t get planned in right from the start and end up being implemented by a developer. Perhaps by me. No matter how conscientious the developer, they’re rarely the best person to be making those design decisions.
That’s what they are — design decisions. From the subject line of an email, to the titles of the pages, these are all aspects of the user interface of the site. Even if elements, such as a contact form email, are essentially back-office. Your client is a user of the site too, and the way they interact with what you’ve built also needs to be well designed. Ultimately, you’ll hope they come back to you with the next project, so their experience of your work is equally important to that of the end user.
Don’t let us developers design parts of your user interface. Take ownership of every aspect of the design.
Comments
Very fair point and where I work we (the UX team) tends to spec even the smallest part of the UI. However, as you mentioned, as a designer I can’t possible cover 100% every single time. In such cases I hope —and thankfully our developers do— a developer will notice any gaps in the specs and come back to us to discuss it. It’s team work, even across multiple companies.
Absolutely — it’s a tough job to spot all the tasks up front, and definitely a situation where a lot of teamwork is needed.
This happens every time I do a build; it’s amazing how even fundamental things like link styling don’t get included in photoshop comps.
I have to admit I do like doing the ‘fill-in’ design work, but it’s the sort of extra work that never gets noticed unless it’s not done.
Hey Drew,
I was speaking to one of my colleagues here, Mark McGall, and he was recently at a talk you held here in Belfast. I have been racking my brains on a google map that pulls the information through from a database. Using the ajax api I have managed a work around for the postcode accuracy problem in the UK and places the markers correctly. Only problem being my html pop-up always uses the last html value in the loop. Mark informs me you did a javascript demo at the course and I believe you may be quite nifty with it!LOL! Is there any chance you could give me a wee hand?
Thanks in advance,
Absolutely. We truly appreciate the additional thinking you guys do as part of the build and we can only endeavour to provide a complete set of designs for every aspect of the site.
I agree with Jeroen, it’s always difficult to capture 100% every detail, and I don’t think anyone would want process/job definitions to overrule common sense.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that for providing a service, its preferable to work with people that do catch these things as an added value – and you know what, if you want a first stab at providing a solution – then that’s great too.
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What’s interesting (to me, anyways) is that my design and writing skills developed from having to fill that project void. Early in my career, designers would design the web site and then we’d build a CMS for it. But the designers never designed the CMS. It seemed unnecessary to them and so I’d do my best to build something that matched the aesthetic of the front end while still being a usable piece of software. I’m thankful for having been given the challenge but I absolutely agree with your points here that design goes all the way down into every nook and cranny of a web site and, if you’re committed, should be considered.
Well said Drew. I’m a freelancer to design agencies myself and I am always coming up against this situation and, when I put it to the agencies that they need to design for that, I almost always encounter resistance. Why? I’m the coder, not the designer – I shouldn’t have to do their job for them. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the other commentators that there needs to be a bit of give and take in most design/development collaborations and I’m always happy to contribute that little bit extra towards whatever solution is required – but it’s amazing what can be overlooked sometimes.
I’m going to forward on a link to your article the next time this happens to me (probably on Monday morning!)
Cheers.
I’m pretty lucky in that in my shop we have pretty good collaboration. If something needs to be designed, the programmers are getting better at not doing it themselves and instead alerting the designer(s). But this is something that has taken time and, yes, small battles. It makes a much better product, though.
I can see how in out-of-shop scenarios this gets harder, because a designer moves on, does other things, while you’re supposed to be plugging away at their design. You’re living with it, and they’re not, generally—so for them there’s a mental hurdle ( it’s not on their mind and they have to go back to something that’s ‘already done’) that has to be overcome before they can get to polishing or filling in the design itself.
This is why web designers should do their own front end code.
I’ve been trying to make this very point in my company for the past couple of years. The biggest issue – in my experience – has been getting adequate time built into the project plan for the depth of detail that needs to be applied to the whole design exercise. Our approach has very often been to simply draft up a couple of sample screens and allow the development team (which only occasionally has any sort of UI expert on it) to infer the remaining aspects of the design.
I’ve yet to see what one would call any sort of great success with this approach. The amount of money and time lost to revising designs once a client actually gets to see them is crazy.
I am not sure if the debate is about whether the designer should do the code or the coder should do the design, as it is to consider the “stuff” between these pages. I agree that there are a ton of little things that rarely get considered. In my opinion would make a big difference to the website experience.
For example a custom 404 page that is kinda funny like http://www.problogdesign.com/inspiration/35-most-creative-404-pages-around/
or a thank you page that isn’t a generic message of a rep will contact you shortly. Like mailchimp inviting the visitor to share a banana with them by linking to the original Chiquita banana commercial
And details like a favicon, and even page titles, & seo descriptions and keywords.
There are a lot of things that go into developing a website, that goes beyond the design of a few pages, and everyone should be aware of the impact they have on the impression of your website…
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Thanks and Regards
Noel for Nopun.com
<a href=“http://www.nopun.com/”>a professional graphic design studio</a>
I encounter this problem all the time but from a different direction. I’m a designer who works with a lot of developers and quite often all they want is a home page and inside page template design to work from. I can’t count the number of sites that looked fantastic as Photoshop files but died once they were built out and real living content was added. The projects I’m proudest of are the ones I’m included on from start to finish, not just the start.
I always find it useful to present the client or designer with a checklist of things to include when they’re coming up with their end of the deal. Not at first, of course – it’d be rude and untrusting to slap them with an inventory of stuff you assume they’ve already forgotten. Nobody wants to be told “Oi, numpty, don’t forget the ‘thanks for your feedback’ page”, especially before they’ve even been given a chance to show you their eye-candy.
But then again, they are only designers. A fair bit of hand-holding is to be expected…
(just kidding, love you guys really!)
If you’ve got a checklist to hand, it serves as a good early warning system, detailing any possible unforseen work involved. It can save time, save money, can prevent scope creep and unexpected costs, it can be added to whenever necessary and helps protect against STDs. Epic win!
Excellent point. Now we just need to include traditional print designers in the group of people who need to learn that web design is essentially designing an experience, and not a just a bunch of flat screens with code behind them.