Social Times - Latest Comments in The Social Web Economy: Designers

Re: The Social Web Economy: Designers

Nick O'Neill — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:47:09 -0000

Wow ... I saw this coming when I started the post. I knew I wouldn't be able to effectively articulate the role of "designers" and that I'd get a bunch of flak for this. I'll definitely update this post and I think next time around I'll let a designer write this component.

Creating generalizations for any group is bound to attract contention. This article proved it. Thanks for the feedback and I'll be sure to update this. This is still only the beginning of what's to come from this series.

Re: The Social Web Economy: Designers

Victoria Pickering — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:41:07 -0000

Really like your series on all the different roles in the social web economy.

As for the role of designers, I second Jonathon and Martin's comments that good design is much more than aesthetic - it's about using design to make the most effective communication to the users. Critical to this process is a designer who understands how to ask the right questions, to be able to find out the real needs of the users and the most effective means of satisfying those needs.

I'd also modify your statement that no designer likes working with constraints. I think that the best designers are the ones who enjoy the challenges of working with constraints and maximizing the possibilities within those constraints (as well as setting up the work to be able to easily change if constraints are lifted in the future). And again, it is critical that a designer know how to ask the right questions early on to discover what implicit and explicit constraints exist - all too often, projects get held up or need last-minute modifications if constraints are discovered mid-stream in the process.

Re: The Social Web Economy: Designers

Martin Ringlein — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:44:39 -0000

Great post, but you are killing me as a designer here! The greatest misconception about designers is that we make things "look good" -- that is just a small part of the role that great design plays on the web.

Real designers working on real initiatives are using visual aesthetic design to increase visual communication; a design tells a story, delivers a message and even persuades an audience. Real design is about designing an interface that is interesting, informative and intuitive. Design is about presenting the content, mission and business objective with respect to the audience expectations and desires.

Again, I agree with the fundamental point of your post, but getting a little personally upset when the job of a designer is trivialized too much.

A pretty picture does nothing for your business objectives or your audience, a real design does so much more and is much more powerful.

Re: The Social Web Economy: Designers

Jonathon Juvenal — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:10:58 -0000

Maybe you've already covered this elsewhere, but there's more to design then just aesthetics. There's the usability of it as well, whether the design frustrates your users or clearly communicates how to use and enjoy. Designers make your app less painful to your users which is critical to broad acceptance.