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The fine art of UX design: solving problems AND making pixels pretty
There are interactive experiences that simply blow you away. You know it’s been a positive experience but you just can’t put your finger on the reason why. Do you know why that is? It’s because a multitude of factors came together to make the experience unforgettable. It’s not just a singular thing, but a combination of elements which satisfied you on multiple levels. Some of these hit you on a conscious level like the correct placement of buttons or the graceful flow of data on screen. Yet others are more subtle and get you on a subconscious level like the well balanced negative space or the tasteful typographic combination.
As product designers we are constantly striving to reach this sweet spot of delightful experience and objective fulfillment. To create interactions that not only look and feel great, but also work extremely well. In order to achieve this UX holy grail, solving problems and making design decisions based purely on objective analysis is not enough. Sure, we must inform our work on hard data and evidence. Yes, we must iterate and test our designs in the real world. But we must push much further and apply an artisans touch to everything we do as well. The details make the difference. And finding this balance is the key to making digital products that stand out and are truly remarkable.
Just think of any app that has ever caught the public’s attention: it could be airbnb, instagram, slack, spotify, netflix, uber, snapchat… What do you notice in these apps? They go above and beyond… their iconography and illustrations are fresh and crisp… their interactions are spot on… their performance has zero lag… these companies value artistry as well as performance, and it shows.
A long time ago I read an excellent article by Eric Fisher about design, but more specifically about user experience design. It explains the difference between art and design, sometimes not very clear since the lines are continually blurred by both artists and designers. But the central tenet behind this article suggests something that I’ve understood from the very beginning of my design career and most designers do as well. It explains that the discipline of user experience design is an objective design process at its core, not subjective. So I’ll add to this idea by making…
