As I looked for some items that we frequently buy, I had to look a lot closer because I was not able to use the visual cues that I have come to associate with these items like color and look of the former packaging.

I was reminded how important visual consistency can be. You can really disorient visitors to your Web site if you drastically change the visual interface.

Several of the design experts I follow advocate realign or making small incremental changes rather than drastic redesigns. One of the reasons is the very thing I experienced today–I was a bit disoriented because the visual cues I relied on to find products quickly had changed. The same thing happens to users on your Web site. They get use to page elements being in a certain place. Color can serve as a cue. The consistency creates a mental modal that you break if you make too many drastic changes.

As many designers do, I like the challenge of a redesign. I am more familiar with my design than anyone and I can get bored after a while and want to redesign. But it can do a big disservice to the audience of the site. I like the thinking of Cameron Moll because he challenges designers to have really good reasons for wanting to change the look of a site in a dramatic way. It is much more effective to make small changes over time.

What do you think? Do you like to redesign? How do other site redesigns affect you?

Helpful resources:

• Cameron Moll’s Good Designers Realign
• Jared Spool’s Podcast Avoiding Redesigns

“…attempting to describe the idea of becoming a better designer by dissecting, analyzing, and ‘copying’ the works of other designers.”

In his follow-up article, he talks about how Tony Williams, a drummer, would practice playing in the style of other drummers in order to become a better drummer himself. Cameron’s point was:

“…you become a good designer by familiarizing yourself with the methods and techniques used by those who are already good designers.”

As I read that, I thought about 2 ideas that I came across from other designers that were similar to what Tony Williams did.

1. In his book, Sexy Web Design, Elliot Jay Stocks recommended looking at the work of other Web designers and then doing a wireframe of their design in order to study layout. I had a similar idea back in December when I bought the book, The Web Designer’s Idea Book.
2. On the same day I read Cameron’s post, Chris Coyier wrote a post, Exercise to Get Better at Web Design. This article is even more in line with Tony William’s idea. Chris suggests finding a Web design you really like and then try to copy it identically. He even suggests looking for ways to put your own spin on it while you are recreating the design. Chris is not advocating design theft here but it is a similar idea to how Tony Williams would practice in the style of other drummers. Check out Chris’ article for all the steps of his suggested exercise.

A couple of week ago, I read Jared Spool’s article, What Goes into a Well-Done Critique. One of Jared’s observations is that teams that felt they go the most out of critiques were those that conducted them the most. Critiques have benefits for both the designer and those looking at his or her work.

I had already been thinking that it might be helpful for us to have regular “pin-up” times where we can share our work. We could incorporate critique as part of that time.

Here is a summary of Jared’s important points:

• Respect — the person giving critique understands and acknowledges the hard work that the design owner has put into the design. There is also an awareness that it is dififcult for anyone to receive a critique of their work. Respect comes in offering critique when the design owner is ready for it. Jared does not mention this but I think respect also comes from the design owner being willing to come to times of critique with respect for the other designers and that their intent is to help improve the design.
• Dispassionate — All those involved in the critique must be able to step away from the design. the design owner understands he or she is not being judged but is helping the team to understand the journey he or she has taken to get to this design solution. The critic uses the critique to explore the different directions the design could go. This creates a learning opportunity for the team where everyone benefits.
• Lacking Authority — Critics recognize that nothing they say will change the direction of the design. Only the design owner can make that decision. Jared observes that in the best critiques he has seen, the critic never made a single recommendation. The critic asked questions and helped guide the discussion. They focused on the bigger picture. Instead of making a recommendation, the good critic might ask ‚“what alternatives did you consider for …?” This keeps the conversation on the bigger picture. And the design owner may have already thought through the alternatives and deemed the one that he or she came up with as being the better of the choices. A great way to offer criticism is the phrase “have you considered…?”
• Justified Impressions and Concerns — Skilled critics avoid hollow compliments and share specifics on what they liked in a design and how it supports the direction of the design. And when offering criticism, the skilled critic justifies their concerns and show alternative examples. This allows the discussion to focus on the merits of the justifications instead of opinions of taste. By comparing design alternatives, a team can look at the essence of the design issues.

Questions to Ask Yourself during a Critique

• What did I like or enjoy about this design and why?
• What concerns me about this design and why?
• What does this design remind me of and why?

What I liked about this article is that it challenges me to be actively involved in a critique by knowing what questions to ask myself. Even if I don’t give critique, I can actively engage in the process and listen to what others might bring up.

I am also challenged as a design owner. Like everyone, I am not a huge fan of critique. It is hard to put a design out there in front of others when I have invested a lot of time and a lot of myself into the design solution. This article challenges me to recognize and remember that the purpose of critique is to make the design better and that I am part of a team that is “for me.”

Good critiquing skills are something that come with practice. After reading this article, I can see why regular times of critiquing each other’s work is beneficial for the whole team.

If you are not familar with Jared Spool and his company UIE, I suggest you check it out. He sends out a regular UIE Tips email that have great insights. I also enjoy listen to their podcasts on my commute. And if you ever get a chance, they put on a great conference in Boston. I have attended it twice.

I found this via The Rissington Podcast.

• Let your layout breathe — CNN.com is a great example
• Consistency of spacing or use multiple scale
• Use range kerning in headlines (with larger font size)
• No hanging widows — Shaun Inman’s Widot plugin
• Alignment — aligning elements can make a huge difference
• Black is not black and white is not white — consider using #333 or #CCC instead of default black and white
• Flat is boring — create some depth
• Adding a pixel to add interest — as one border (they used example of Mint’s dashboard)
• Know when to quit

First, You have to go to the top right to a “home” graphic to link back to the home from a secondary page. It took me several seconds to figure out how to get back to the homepage when I got deeper in the site. I would suggest making the site branding into a link back to the homepage which is a common practice.

Second, the polaroid photos in the Flash animation eventually cover up the last parts of the sentences in the welcome message. Not a good practice to cover up text that is conveying a message. A small but important detail to make sure one page element does not overlap another and make it unreadable.

This site serves as a reminder to me that elegant design needs to also be usable and think about the experience of the user. Sites “behave,” they are not just an artistic canvas. I want to be able to create sites that are elegant and provide a good user experience.

Given all that, I do like the visual design of this site. The monochromatic is nice and gives character to what the Web site is promoting so I think it does a good job of visual communication. The photos look even more vibrant because they introduce other colors into this brown palette. I also like the “realness” feel of the site and real world objects such as the photos, tape, paper, and passport.

Jared also talked about how the homepage is usually the first page that gets designed because it is the easiest (and I think can be the most fun). Content pages and other pages that get you there are harder.

Users are not on your site to hang out on your homepage. They are there to get something, whether it is buying something, getting news, reading an article or connecting with a friend. The homepage and supporting pages (departments, galleries, etc.) are there to get users to what they want.

Given this, I have been re-thinking the design process and here are preliminary thoughts for the order of attention I give to design:

1. Content pages
2. Gallery pages
3. Department pages
4. Homepage

For an explanation of these type of navigation pages, see 8 Types of Navigation Pages by Jared Spool.

Of course the day I listened to this podcast, I was working on a new design for a site and I was starting with the homepage. After hearing this podcast, I think I need to put the homepage aside and start on the content pages and work my way up.

The prerequisite for doing something meaningful with any of these skills —€” HTML, CSS, Flash or whatever —€” is first embracing the medium as something different from print. Indeed, there’€™s no point in learning these skills unless as a print designer you’ve made a prior shift in your understanding of how design works in digital media. Specifically, come to grips with the fact that, on the Web, design is not a method for implementing narrative, as it is in print, but rather it’€™s a method for making behaviors possible.

I liked how he makes the distinction between print and Web design.

• Print design is a method for implementing narrative
• Web design is a method for making behaviors possible

The Web is about interaction and behavior. It is a fundamental paradigm that anyone working in the Web needs to understand and embrace.

For me, one of the ways that I still need to embrace the medium is in the area of typography (see related post). I am still seeking too much control and need to embrace the fluidity of the medium. But I am embracing it and looking to grow more in this area.

• Two simple post-test questions — these are two questions they ask users after a usability test. I could see using these questions with others to evaluate a current site or in the process of a redesign. The questions are: “what are two things about the design that you liked?” and “what are two things about the design that you did not like?”.
• The one-minute test — This is a practice they use at the end of a meeting with a design team. I could see using this at any meeting. It helps you to see if everyone is on the same page. The idea is to have everyone write down the answers to three questions and to only give them a minute to do it. Then they will have everyone share their answers. Depending on the atmosphere of the meeting, everyone might read their own answers aloud or they may be collected and read anonymously. Here are the questions:
  • What was the big idea? (What was the most important thing you heard at the meeting?)
  • What was your big surprise? (What was the thing you saw or heard that surprised you the most?)
  • What’s your big question? (What’s the biggest unanswered question you have at this time?)