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Archives for Design
Not My Baby
Posted by Ken on Apr 20, 2007I am all about process. I love process. I feel secure knowing that when I finish one step, there’s another step right there waiting for me. Having a solid process is liberating, allowing you to focus more on what you’re doing, and less on what you should be doing. All that said, there are parts that can be difficult and frustrating if approached from the wrong angle. Giving and receiving criticism can be one of the hardest and most vital parts of making an effective design.
Let it all out
Giving feedback can be really hard. Sometimes, the design looks good and the only feedback you have is minor. But often this is not the case. Sometimes you have so much criticism that it feels like you’re punching the designer repeatedly in the gut. You can almost see the tears well up in their eyes. Negative criticism is not bad, it’s part of the process. How you give criticism can be the difference between a constructive meeting that benefits the design and an all-out battle where the designer goes on defense and nothing is gained. Here are a couple guidelines that may help:
- Make your case
If your suggestions make sense and have logical benefits to the design, this is the easiest way to help. - Pull your punches
Make sure you say everything you’re thinking — this is vital for the critique to work — but watch out for insulting language. They don’t call it “constructive” criticism for nothing. - Don’t make it personal
There’s a big difference between personal opinion and relevant feedback. No one cares if you don’t like pink, never liked pink, and in fact choked on bubble gum as a child and are traumatized by the color pink. What matters is that the color of the secondary callout is too bright and is stealing the focus from the main callout on the home page which adversely affects the way a user navigates… you get the point.
Take it all in
Design can be a very personal thing. I often get attached to a design and think, “Wow, what a perfect little thing you are. You’re so pretty and functional and you’re going to do great in the world!” Then I get some criticism, and my perfect little thing isn’t so perfect anymore. I get defensive and frustrated and I have to remind myself that this is work, and if there’s something wrong with my work, I need to hear it.
- Acceptance is the first step
For a design process to get the best results, you must open your work up to criticism. It’s important to get opinions from everyone — project managers, content specialists, programmers, spouses, friends — not just designers. Then actually listen to what everyone has to say. Don’t get defensive, they aren’t trying to insult you. Remember, you asked for it. - A glutton for punishment
It can be hard enough asking for criticism once. Going back for a second helping almost seems foolish. Do it anyway. Get feedback whenever you reach a good stopping point, make changes, and repeat until there’s nothing else to critique. - It’s not your baby
…it’s your clients’ baby, er, website/brochure/what-have-you. You can be as proud of your design as you want but if it doesn’t work for your client, you’ve failed. Ultimately, it all comes down to what your client thinks and the effect it has on their business.
I can’t stress enough how important criticism is to an effective design process. Incorporating it into key points along the way can really help a design. Whenever you think you’ve completed a milestone, open your work up for criticism and see if everyone else agrees. If not, listen to what they have to say and use their feedback to finish your work. Remember, process is key, and criticism is a key part of the process.
- Make your case
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Designing for CodeIgniter
Posted by Justin on Apr 06, 2007Last week we launched our very own redesigned website. Early in the design process we discussed options for handling content management, and as the launch date neared, we refined our requirements.
Basically, the site would need:
- Dynamic portfolio pieces, with the top-most piece published automatically to the home page
- Static (X)HTML for the about and contact pages
- A contact form
- A blog
Initially we considered Drupal, a feature-rich open-source CMS we’ve used in the past with great results. For this case, Drupal seemed too feature rich.
We Opted to Build Instead.
Before the redesign I had a small amount of experience using CodeIgniter for some internal projects. The framework is lightweight, well-structured, and provides a broad sprinkling of functionality via its libraries. I was happy for a chance to use it to build a site from the ground-up, and eager to see just how quick and painless it would prove to be.
Quick and Painless
The results were good. The portfolio came together in a couple of evenings — just a few hours altogether, including an admin section for adding, editing, and ordering the various pieces.
I started coding the blog on the flight back from An Event Apart Boston, and was 90% finished when we touched down on the runway. Once back in the office, I wrapped up the comments functionality.
Along the way, we made several significant changes to the (X)HTML/CSS structure of the site, moving it from a fixed design (1024×768) to a fluid-width design that shrinks nicely to 800×600 screen resolutions. CodeIgniter’s clean view/controller abstraction facilitated those changes perfectly.
Some Helpful Modifications
It’s worth mentioning a few extensions we created that made the job even easier. We coded extensions to:
- Automatically call the set_fields() validation function when set_rules() is used, to reduce code and increase automation
- Preload the validation object with field values from any given object - specifically to preload forms with fields from a database select
- Prep validated POST arrays for database entry by comparing array keys to database table fields
- Include active-record functionality into the base Model class
We’re happy to provide mentioned extensions if anyone’s interested… just ask us for them using the contact form or by leaving us a comment.
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An Event Apart Boston
Posted by Justin on Apr 02, 2007An Event Apart Boston came and went a week ago. The conference was amazing. Nine expert speakers presented on a range of topics from the conceptual to the practical. I’ve never been so happy to sit in one place for so long.
Some Highlights
Think
PositiveNegativeIn his presentation Good vs Great Design, Cameron Moll pitched the idea that design should be problem-focussed, not solution-focussed.
Well put. We’ve spent many critique sessions backpedaling when a design isn’t working, retracing our steps invariably to the original goal, or problem. Now we have a mantra for times like these. Focus on the problem. Or, just like they didn’t tell us growing up, think negative.
Project Managers are Superstars
The conference was largely technical, devoting hours and hours to the methods of implementation. In all that, one point still couldn’t be missed: project managers are invaluable. No problem is truly understood, no goal established, and no solution designed without an effective project manager in the middle. And the middle isn’t always comfortable.
For Best Results, Over-think
Details can be tiny little pitfalls, inviting designer and client alike to pass on by. Not a good idea.
Jason Santa Maria summarized the point perfectly: “Sweat the Small Stuff.” That line was great validation for all times we’ve pulled together a meeting to discuss a font size, a color, the name of a class selector, or an approach to marking up a chunk of content.
Our Senior Designer Knows His Stuff
It’s nothing new, but very exciting all the same. The final session was a site-critique. We didn’t submit anything corporately, but our Senior Designer Ken Woodworth did submit a site he designed for a friend: www.parkviewbaptist.net
It’s the first site that the panel critiqued. Needless to say, Ken was a little nervous.
Usability expert Steve Krug opened the critique by saying that he wasn’t planning on staying for the session, but that www.parkviewbaptist.net is the reason he did. He praised the site from a usability perspective. Eric Meyer complimented the (X)HTML/CSS implementation. Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, Dan Cederholm, and Cameron Moll complimented the design.
It’s worth stating that amidst the compliments the panel offered some well-placed suggestions. Within a day Ken had followed up on all of them. You might say, ehem, he sweats the small stuff.
