Redesigning in a vacuum

A bad idea

As a designer I’m always looking for inspiration. I check out all the popular web galleries and portfolio sites — Web Creme, Behance, Dribble, whatever — and there’s a lot of good designs going on there. One popular and common design project is redesigning an existing web site, usually a big one that everyone knows. Something like Amazon, Facebook, Google or IMDB, the latter being a project I caught over on Medium.

Like all redesigns, the goal is to make a website better. To make it easier to use, clear to read and just more beautiful. The IMDB project was trying to do the same and the web pages their mocked up look good. If IMDB had those guys design their website, IMDB would be a great looking site but it would also go out of business.

One thing I can’t stand about these redesigns is their lack of consideration for advertising. It would be great if websites didn’t need ads but unfortunately that’s not true. Why do you think websites for products and brands look so good? It’s because they don’t have to worry about ads. Advertising will forever be the thorn in the side of good design (and UX) but it’s a reality.

I worked for more than a decade in traditional media (newspapers, TV and radio) designing and building websites. If there’s any industry where ads are necessary, it’s media. No ads, no news, plain and simple. But that also means your designs have to be accessible to ads, often many of them. The reason news sites all the look the same (and poor, at that) is because they have to worry about advertisements (and they don’t have design staff).

Maybe I’ve just been designing in the “real world” for too long now. Seeing great designs is awesome and inspiring but it pains me somewhat to know that such wonderful designs will never see the big time because they were designed in a vacuum. Websites need to make money, even if indirectly through sales of other products. This is reality I had a hard to accepting but its one that I’m glad I now understand because I learned you need to consider those things from the beginning, not as an afterthought.

I’m not against redesigning popular websites under ideal circumstances. It’s a great way to get your design ideas down on paper and it will shows off your art skills. If you want to get all deep about it, ignoring business requirements will result in a very “pure” website. How very zen. But if the purpose of such redesigns is an exercise to make you a better web designer (and maybe even get you a job), wouldn’t you want your design to prove it can make money?

I for one am waiting for ESPN to get a redesign as it is very long overdue. It’s supposedly going to happen this year and I’ll guarantee you there will be advertisements.