The Tenets of Good Design
by The Blazing Lucidity Staff
What is good web design, and who decides?
Our answer is that good design is functional design. And it looks nice too. It is user-centered, because user-centered design is functional design. Good design allows for flexibility, and good design does not have to conform to a set definition.
Conventions and Their Uses
There are conventions that designers and users have come to expect. Take user settings for a web site or web application, for example. Similar to a desktop software model, user settings such as account information and preferences are often located in a single area of the site that is easily accessible. For purposes of this article, I will call this convention Centrally Located User Preferences.
This makes a lot of sense to users and interface designers alike. In the case that the Centrally Located User Preferences convention is not followed, what can we conclude from this? There could be a few reasons: The web designer may not agree with, or value, the convention of Centrally Located User Preferences. Or, the designer may have a different idea of functional design as it relates to a particular application. Or, they may have overlooked this component.
Who decides what is right? The Users, of course. That is the key to the value of User-Centered Design (UCD): Ultimately, users will tell us what works and what doesn't. This is not to unequivocally endorse the wisdom of the crowds mentality, because sometimes the crowds do not have it right. But designers don't always have it right either, even if their design sense is often more sophisticated than the average user (in fact, this can be a problem). UCD works because is a collaborative and iterative process between designer and user, where best practices emerge, rise to the top, and become accepted by both sides.
Design vs. Functionality
What about elements of a website that tend towards the pure design end, vs. the functional, such as colors, graphics and fonts? This is one of the apects of visual design that makes it so interesting: There is a lot of feel involved. The generally accepted rules should serve as guides only. Most would agree that dark text on a light background, or vice-versa, is easiest to read, and therefore it is safe to say that a designer will want to bear this in mind about 99% of the time. Though this design convention that is as close to fact as there is, most other aspects of design are more subjective. And this is a good thing, because it keeps web design moving forward by keeping it interesting for designers and users. Though the focus of Web 2.0 is most often on the functional aspects, Web 2.0 design trends have made web design interesting again.
While it is possbile to accomplish a successful functional design that is not particularly attractive, there are real advantages to having both. Where the goal is to engage the user (and it always is), a fresh and visually appealing site is a necessity — even more so if you are developing or promoting a brand. We know that whatever the future holds for web interface design that it will continue to be an important, if sometimes underappreciated, component.
