Designer Lies
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- breadlegz
This is quite a long article i've just been reading on Design V Data.
I'd love to know if you agree with some of the statements about lies that designers tell that don't match up to data.
- jtb261
I read until this and then I had a legitmate response:
"Good Design Looks Good"
A successful design doesn't have to match your subject of opinion of looking good. However a great design not only accomplishes it's primary goal beyond expectation, but it is also stylish and attractive in the eyes of many.
Because the writer (and his colleagues) fail to find this goal doesn't mean others should strive to, or that it's impossible.
Sounds like this bloke has been burned by shitty designers honestly, and it's a shame it led him to write this article in the tone that he did. It deserves a proportionate response from someone who can put what he's saying into proper perspective. Though that would be kind of useless since it's already out there and then eventually some client will use this to be a pain in the ass to designers who legitimately know what they're doing.
- *subjectivejtb26
- Not to pump myself up, but I wrote about this a while ago: http://www.inovat.co…jtb26
- utopian4
I am still trying to figure what exactly a UX Designer really does. A bullshit title and position created to generate more revenue for a design firm or agency? The title and position were invented around 5 years ago. There isn't even any college degrees or relevant courses available at US college institutions. Every UX Developer / designer that I met and or have worked with, weren't even designers, programmers, and or developers in their past lives. Most of UX designers / developers used to be project coordinators, project managers or in account services. Will someone please enlightened me, thanks.
- Are there any UX Dev/Design people here on QBN to explain their role, as well as how they trained and obtained that particular position?utopian
- I'm working in a UX role now, technically. I've worked with a number as well. Consider myself a designer. But I totally get where you're coming from.jtb26
- There's a lot of fluff and bullshit surrounding UX, and it's because it's new.jtb26
- Graphic Design background here, Now UX. Work closely with conversion specialists and research. Bulk of work involves protoyping, wireframing, and workflowsbrandelec
- Saw this interview a while back. It speaks in general terms on what she does as UX designer for her company: http://tcrn.ch/1Ctj0…mrpt
- http://tcrn.ch/1Ctj0… < trying againmrpt
- http://tcrn.ch/1CUxY… < 3rd trymrpt
- ^ @0:44 Exactly...start with user research, don't need software background or classes, just ask questions....LOLutopian
- "UX" has been around since the days of Xerox Parc. Hell, Don Norman had the title of "UX Architect" in the mid-90s. Simply put, you don't know design history.studderine
- It also sounds like you are working in an ad agency context. If so then you have indeed experienced smoke and mirrors.studderine
- I never mentioned UX Architect...I am guessing that you are a UX stunod?utopian
- BTW I do not work at an ad agency or design studio.utopian
- Splitting hairs really, but UX Designer isn't as new as you think.studderine
- You make zero sense. The user experience is the single most important thing and needs to be designed and considered..set
- I can see how this pisses people off as some design roles now have been reduced to colouring in wireframes. But yes, UX is they key to a sites success.Chimp
- hans_glib3
ugh lost the will to live with all that consultancy bullshit language
- mg331
utopian,
I too am often unsure what "UX designer" means. I'm a UX architect. I "design" the user interface, overall web page or application, talk to my clients about making good decisions that benefit the user's experience. I don't do visual design. I do the wireframes, prototypes, etc. that falls under UX architecture.
I think some places give the title UX designer to UX architects and to visual designers. It's applicable, I guess, to call an architect a UX designer, and I guess it's also applicable to call a visual designer a UX designer because the visual design they create is tied into the user experience.
I just think a lot of this stuff is written by HR people who aren't familiar with what a UX team is actually looking for.
- Most UX people i know have a role of making presentations of interfaces to clients. is this true?yurimon
- What about research?studderine
- User research.studderine
- Riley0
I'm a UX designer,
My job is to find all rounded gray boxes and remove them.
- utopian6
mg33
As soon as I find out that the UX Dev/Designer and or team has already created the "flow", "wireframes" or "user experience" my first reaction is that I usually cringe and then vomit on my display. 9 out of 10 times I usually have to scrap most of the previous wireframe work because it simply does not work, fit, or integrate with the existing content, brand position, branding messaging and does not even align with current branding guidelines and standards provided by the client. There is generally little to no flexibility and or consideration for real web, interface or mobile experiences that actually looks aesthetically pleasing, performs well, makes sense and most importantly...gives the end user what he/she really wants...which is a simple, comprehensive, friendly, yet thoughtful user experience.
In my humble opinion I find UX Dev/Designer utterly worthless!
- ++1000zenmasterfoo
- You should work with better people then utopian. Some of us do a good job at that part. :)mg33
- In fact I'm in a team meeting now where we're talking about UX discussions one of our directors heard at SXSW, where lots of ad agencies are attempting to...mg33
- get into UX, but really have no concept of what it really means.mg33
- Are you work on software or simple website?studderine
- Ugh, are you working on software or a simple website?studderine
- spoken like a true utopian, +1georgesIII
- I'm confused when you say have to scrap the wireframes because it doesn't "fit, or integrate with the existing content, brand position,...".Josev
- The client didn't sign off on the content and functionality detailed in the wireframes? WiJosev
- jtb262
I mostly agree with Utopian. Among the UX Designers I've worked with (with maybe two notable exceptions) none of them were actual designers, or understood traditional graphic design principles. Which means they are utterly useless, other than to give me stats on whether the presence or particular element is useful or not.
Of the exceptions to this I can tell you what the experience was like. They do tremendous research, not on just testing, but the market as well. They can create a cohesive understanding of a system, the language and relationships between concepts. They can create a narrative that informs the work, and the work closely with the designer to execute. They don't do wireframes in isolation and then turn them over as a set of instructions and have a desire to utilize the skills of someone who knows how to make text legible and how to execute stylishly. This. Is. Rare. I'd say (in a rather anecdotal and uneducated way) that what I'm describing here represents 2% of actual UX folks. I'd say that's because it's new, and people just think it's sexy and dive in not knowing how to actually be valuable.
I'm doing UX now for my current company as well as art directing for the project and I can tell you that in system or application design it's a useful thing to have, which makes it a shame that there is so much snake oil pedaling going on in relation to it.
- utopian1
I am currently helping a client find a qualified UX developer/designer for his company and I can personally tell you that a vast majority of the resumes are a joke. Like I previously stated in my previous post...most of "UX Peeps" are really just glorified project coordinators, project managers, account services, interns, writers or kids fresh out of college with Liberal Arts degrees trying to jump on the gravy train of "User Experience" related positions that often pay significantly more than Senior Designer and or Art Director jobs. I really can't blame them, this industry has really gone to hell in a hand basket.
According to salary based websites in the US:
The average User Experience Developer salary is $85,000 per year
(1-3 yrs. experience)
The average User Experience Designer salary is $73,000 per year
(1-3 yrs. experience)
The average Senior Designer salary is $54,000 per year
(10 yrs. experience)
The average Senior Designer salary is $84,000 per year
(12-15 yrs. experience)
- utopian2
@0:30 "Anybody who approaches a project with the intent of understanding what the users is going to do...is a designer"
- Are you fucking kidding me?@0:45 "For someone who has never did any kind of design...start with user research, uummmm you don't need software background or classes"
- What dimwit!- The shot of the boots at the beginning is critical to conveying her expertise.mg33
- She was a stay-at-home mom before UX.utopian
- Yeah, this is an awful interview.studderine
- holy fucking vocal frylvl_13
- nervous? awful interview.bklyndroobeki
- monNom0
There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
- wagshaft1
A couple years ago 62% of Mississippi users chose against same sex marriage.
Don't pander to users.
- What people say vs. what they actually do are very different things.studderine
- yurimon0
UX is the Kanye West of graphic design.
- utopian0
So what is the difference between Interactive designer and interaction designer? Since I do both...and according to Wikipedia they are more or less the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Int…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Int…I guess my new title is: Design Director & Interactive Interaction User Experience Designer. I hope that it fits on my new business card, maybe I should just leave out my email address and phone number so that I can squeeze my new title on the card.
- monNom0
^ Interaction designer is much more on the HCI side of things. Complex software systems, that sort of thing. Less concerned with the look..
Interactive designer is one of the many terms standing in for "web designer", though they may work in games/advertizing/brandng/etc.
UX is somewhere between the two, They tend to be testing-focused, so it's more of a product design role where there's ongoing continuous refinement of a product or property.
- mg330
My title is actually Interaction Designer, but I work as a UX architect on most projects, and the interaction design portion is just a small part of the larger architect role I fill.
- p---m1
A 1% or 2% shift in completion can be worth millions of dollars a year for companies. Good user experience designers / architects / whatever are worth a lot of money because they make a lot of money for their clients.
Getting the funnel right is and should be the number 1 priority for any business that exists to make money on the internet. And as painful as it might be for visual designers, a nice typeface is far less important to a user than being asked the right question at the right time.
My work straddles both disciplines, and brand guidelines and 'good design' is often in tension with the learnings from extensive UX work (interviews, testing etc). But being a good designer is about finding that balance. Dismissing UX completely only betrays your own ignorance.
And if they all really do suck - maybe you should try putting better teams together, or suggesting your employers do.
- The trouble with the last part is when it's on the client side.jtb26
- p---m0
Of course users are also fucking idiots and should be told what they want - apple does ok and never speaks to anyone in advance.
- yurimon0
What does a ux portfolio look like?
- Good Question.
Probably case studies.jtb26 - <<bklyndroobeki
- Wireframes, user flows, maybe sketches to show how you think through problemsmg33
- Good Question.
- studderine0
Everyone lies.