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Justifying Design Decisions
Published 2 years ago, at the end of June under Design
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The craft of graphic design is replete with ratios, rules of thumb, and math—all an attempt to rationalize decisions that otherwise fall to subjectivity. Finding justification for design decisions is important to me—I want to bring purpose and intent to my work and depend less on taste and opinion. But I often find myself designing on impulse or intuition—pushing pixels around the screen or lines down a sketchpad with no structure, no rationalization— just because it “looks right”. That haphazard and experimental process gives me a lot of freedom, but it isn’t really design.
I asked Mark Boulton, Andy Budd, and Jeff Croft, three designers I deeply respect, about designing on impulse versus intention. They each had something different to say, but they each presented a design process far more rationalized and justified than my own. Andy said something particularly interesting — I think it’s the kernal I’ve been looking for:
“Design is about solving problems in a visual medium, and starts well before mouse touches canvas.”
Any design decision is justified if it’s introduced to solve a problem. Likewise, a design decision that cannot be framed as a solution to a problem is merely decoration to be discarded. Grids, ratios, and rules-of-thumb are just tools to solve these problems. They provide a common interface to tackle tough problems of aesthetics, proportions, and consistency. They aren’t the only game in town, but they’re a great solution to a common problem. If you’re going to discard convention, you need to provide a solution that’s more appropriate than the tried and true approach.
A good example of this type of justification is Shaun Inman’s search button for version seven of his site. In his talk on evolving user interfaces at An Event Apart Seattle, Shaun discussed how he evolved that button to solve an interface challenge. The problem was simple—find a way to provide advanced search options while keeping the interface streamlined for the majority who only need a simple search. His solution—a unified button split down the middle and advanced options that only appear when needed. The unified button plus an options overlay keeps the number of interface elements to a minimum—it works perfectly for both advanced and normal users. Problem solved.
Design doesn’t have to be a subjective concern. By isolating the design problem you’re trying to solve you have all the justification you need. This isn’t art and it’s not mere decoration. Push pixels around all you want—just make sure the end result is a solution that best solves the challenge at hand.
Sound Off!
Amen, brother. It’s easy to forget that, as deadlines loom and clients turn up the heat about adding the latest whiz-bang to their sites. I recently lost a bid for a photographer because I didn’t want to use Flash on his site, and he insisted on it (based on what several other designers had told him was “necessary”). I’ve yet to hear their reasoning, but I doubt it was because they felt Flash solved the challenge of presenting a photographer on the web. (It was probably “everyone else has it, so you should too.”) That should be the main part of the calculus — does making this decision serve the end goal?
Wonderful post Rob! It’s beautiful to realize as you evolve as a designer that real design is much more about problem solving and very methodical and rational thinking than simply finding what is visually appealing. And nowhere is this more true than in web design - where you must take into account possible user disabilities, an international audience, and the fact that your design must work for users on all platforms and in all web browsers in order to be truly usable.
What I’ve found as I’ve developed my own design process is that working from timeless design principles and approaches is so much easier and more enjoyable than working simply to please your eyes and your own unique sense of taste. Everyone has different tastes and preferences. But timeless design principles and approaches never go out of style.
[...] Justifying Design Decisions Any design decision is justified if it’s introduced to solve a problem. Likewise, a design decision that cannot be framed as a solution to a problem is merely decoration to be discarded. (tags: web design) [...]
This is obviously something you’ve given a lot of thought to…
But it feels like you’re presenting the end of the thinking process as the conclusion you’ve reached, and I would be really interested in knowing where you went along the way.
@Sandor — designers use Flash for photographers’ sites because it offers the best available tool for preventing users from downloading copyright images. Sounds to me like you let your anti-Flash ideology cheat you of a client.
I’m somewhat late in this discussion, but I like the advise that if you can’t explain why something is there, take it out.
I think I know some ways to solve design problems, but I don’t think I know how to identify the problems very well. Would you write about that sometime?
[...] Justifying Design Decisions “I asked Mark Boulton, Andy Budd, and Jeff Croft, three designers I deeply respect, about designing on impulse versus intention. They each had something different to say, but they each presented a design process far more rationalized and justified than my own. Design is about solving problems in a visual medium, and starts well before mouse touches canvas.” [...]
[...] Justifying Design DecisionsIntuitive Lösungsansätze erzwingen nicht notwendigerweise ein funktionierendes Design. Dieser Beitrag erläutert, wie Entscheidungen im Designprozess bewusst kalkuliert und getroffen werden, damit sie nicht subjektiv, sondern objektiv sind. [...]
[...] Justifying Design Decisions “I asked Mark Boulton, Andy Budd, and Jeff Croft, three designers I deeply respect, about designing on impulse versus intention. They each had something different to say, but they each presented a design process far more rationalized and justified than my own. Design is about solving problems in a visual medium, and starts well before mouse touches canvas.” [...]
[...] Justifying Design Decisions Intuitive Lösungsansätze erzwingen nicht notwendigerweise ein funktionierendes Design. Dieser Beitrag erläutert, wie Entscheidungen im Designprozess bewusst kalkuliert und getroffen werden, damit sie nicht subjektiv, sondern objektiv sind. [...]
[...] Justifying Design Decisions “I asked Mark Boulton, Andy Budd, and Jeff Croft, three designers I deeply respect, about designing on impulse versus intention. They each had something different to say, but they each presented a design process far more rationalized and justified than my own. Design is about solving problems in a visual medium, and starts well before mouse touches canvas.” [...]
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