„Everything you think about Design is wrong.“
Make it look pretty.
A sentence that I have heard far too often since I started working as a designer. Whether it’s a hardcore programmer when I was a student, a client while I was working as a freelancer or an old schoolmate whom I tell what my profession is. Most people associate the term „design” with graphic design, in fact just layouting or designing a logo. Don’t get me wrong, the longer I have been working in the field, the more respect I have for a good graphic designer. But that’s not what this article is about. In my opinion, Design is less about what the customer gets to see in the end. The essence of Design is the process that leads to the result.
A Designer is not a cosmetic surgeon.
Design is not about smoothing out optical flaws.
Although the comparison with a doctor is not so far-fetched. Designers are problem solvers and inventors.
It’s more about identifying the problem and developing a solution that will prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.
It is all about context.
Design is psychology and science, more than it is art. The process could be as follows: A person or a company approaches to us with a problem. However, that would be too easy. Usually the client comes with a mission. In order to accomplish this mission, the problem must first be uncovered and evaluated. Even if the client thinks he has identified a problem, it is your job as a designer to verify that it is indeed a valid problem to tackle.
The research process begins. How to proceed is up to you. Among other methods, a distinction is made between desk research and field research:
Desk research is where you dig through articles, statistics and any other data that can be found from trusted sources. The collected data is usually rather quantitative.
Personally, I find field research much more valuable, because it is where qualitative data is collected. One accompanies the user in everyday life, where the product or service will later be used. You analyze the ups and downs throughout the day and create a user journey. Based on these ups and downs, the actual problem of the process can be deduced very clearly.
Personas are created — the personalized version of the target group, which can be called upon for critical questions. Of course the user himself should also be frequently asked for feedback and user tests.
The goal of the analysis is to create a proper context for the emerging system and to integrate it as seamlessly as possible. If your product or service doesn’t integrate seamlessly into the existing context, users will refuse to adopt it.
Why do you want to do it?
Who is the target group?
What is it dealing with?
What are their highs and lows in everyday life?
Where should my solution intervene?
In this way a first thesis can be established and a first value proposition — a promise from the customer’s point of view to the target group, which makes you and your product unique and distinguishes you from the competition. What follows is an iterative process in which the product is developed in close collaboration with the target group and your customer.
What is User Experience?
In web and app design, user experience is often mistaken for just determining the position of a button or placing a menu. This is actually the result of a UX process. The psychology behind the user guidance and the overall experience from discovering the product, through the buying process, to opening the packaging and actually using it, is called user experience. The layout of the app, i.e. the user interface, is thus a partial result of UX.
But don’t you make things look pretty?
So, where does “Make it Look pretty” fit in? All decisions made so far are purely functional and serve to create a suitable solution for a real existing problem among the target group. The last step is to package and market the whole thing in a visually appealing way. In the best case, the company already knows its target group and has already adapted its cooperative design — i.e. how the company operates as a brand — to suit them. In the best case, it is easily adopted. Otherwise, a concept that leads to the visual appearance of the product should have been developed on the basis of the research carried out so far. The statement “Make it look pretty” is therefore much more profound than most people realize. For some it is a “headline 2pt enlarge” or “a picture 2px to the left”. For others it is a whole cascade of research, psychology and tests. To answer the question of this headline: Yes they do.
But not without a reason.
I hope I could give you a little insight into the way I, as designer work. Everything I have written here is based on experience and is just my opinion. Many things are simplified and I am aware that designers are not all alike. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me:
