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The Value of Design

Posted July 1, 2006 By Caroling Lee |

Having worked in Creative Services for the last 5 years, one of the biggest challenges I sometimes face is informing clients about the value of design. Most people equate design with aesthetics or beauty. It’s perceived as making things pretty, color, ‘look and feel’ and personal preferences.

“Design is…about problem-solving and strategy”

The truth is that design is all of the above and much more. It’s about problem-solving and strategy. In the Web design world, it’s about organizing content, usability and the user experience.

For users, good design is often overlooked or taken for granted. The chair you’re sitting in, the refrigerator in your house, your car stereo, and even your toothbrush are all practical examples of good design.

Remember in the old days of the Web when there was no design? The Web was just a series of pages with awkwardly placed text without any graphic styling or separation between the content. Now that Photoshop and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are standards in the business, those long scrolling pages of Times New Roman text without photos or graphics are a thing of the past.

We have Web sites with emphasized content, graphics that help ‘call out’ important messages and information that is categorized visually so that users literally don’t have to think when trying to find information on a Web site.

These aren’t happy accidents. They are results of endless research, trial and error and usability testing. They provide solutions to what once were problems and have helped to develop design standards for the Web and beyond.

When working with a design consultancy the key is to remember the practical reasons why a designer may have made certain design decisions, whether choosing certain colors or composition. Good designers consider target users and the major goals of the site first. Ask questions about why certain design decisions were made and be sure that these design decisions contribute to your site’s initial goals. It’s always best to keep the user in mind and try to leave your personal preferences at bay. In the end, it will be the user who will decide if your site is well-designed or not.

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