Oct 22, 2009
Why do pixels matter?
Since really diving into design and product over the past 12 months, and attempting to consume as much UI/UX content as possible, I’ve come appreciate the dysfunctional relationship between a designer and a developer. Though not all startups face this challenge, I find it interesting where value and focus is placed within such companies with so few resources. The current trend seems to place heavy emphasis on usability and front-end functionality.
Accordingly, I like to place front-end work into three buckets, UI/UX, Design, and Code.
1) UI/UX – Though these two are considered a bit difference, I like to work through wireframes for both in mind.
2) Design – This is taking the wireframes and creating pixel perfect design.
3) Code – Implementing pixel perfect design correctly via CSS/HTML/JS, etc.
With steps 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 containing a feedback loop. So currently, I’ve been looking for a solid UI/UX designer who can handle at the very least the first two. However, if finding a team to handle all three is not available, I am beginning to lean on finding an individual who can handle the last two. Again, it seems that there is the large disconnect during the implementation of a pixel perfect mockup.
In a recent article in ReadWriteWeb titled “Design for Startups“, these two quotes really made sense to me.
Another perspective is Rundle’s contention. “A web application’s overall look and feel plays a very critical role mainly through two main factors: early adopters love beautifully-designed applications and that gets them talking. Secondly, ease of use and quality interface design go hand in hand to attract new customers and users. If the interface is not intuitive then they’ll be frustrated and give up (and tell all their friends.)” A similar sentiment was Barrett’s opinion. “There are rare cases where an app’s mind-blowing functionality can override any other concerns but otherwise users tend to make a decision about an application’s usefulness to them within the first few moments of using it. Aesthetics play a major part in that decision.”
Noting that many developers are also doing graphic design for their applications, Barrett said, “One of the telling differences between an application design that is handled by a designer and one that is handled more by a development team is spacing. Developers don’t usually think much about how element should sit on a screen together, so you see a lot of items crammed together or unevenly distributed. This is the kind of thing an average user can’t put their finger on, but on a subconscious level, it bothers them and gives them a negative opinion of the application.”
When I’m considering signing up for a service, contributing to a site, or just thinking about clicking a button, I subconsciously make a snap decision stemming from the perception of usability and security. Unfortunately, since most startups are starting to focus on usability, we as web consumers have been trained to make this decision based on a matter of a few pixels.
The issue is quantifying how effect much lining up a form, correctly placing a button, the color of a header, or messaging has on usability. And how much increased usability affects our virality factor, in-bound links, SEO, branding, revenue, and sales?
As we enter the next major redesign and feedback loop for RentWiki.com, usability will be a focal point. The challenge lies in measuring the results of each incremental usability change.
