I’ve had this Tweet bookmarked for months now from Brian Lovin who does a classic and well-deserved wrist-slapping of flashy design at the cost of communication. It’s all-too-easy to focus on exotic micro-interactions that will get likes on social media, but fail to communicate what a product does or tell a compelling story.
Criticism of form over function is a tale as old as time. People line up to criticize Frank Lloyd Wright, as Regina Cole wrote:
His roofs were improperly supported, they say. His buildings leak. They waste energy, are maintenance nightmares, have no garages, inadequate closets and as for the kitchens…
Makes you wonder what the development parallel is. I think it’s adding Kubernetes to the stack of a startup that hasn’t established product market fit yet.
I hear you on the functionality first mantra, but we’ve got to talk about design and its role in drawing users in. It’s like when you go to a restaurant because those Instagram shots had the perfect lighting, even if the food was just okay. The flash, the sizzle—not for us, the builders; it’s for the customers to catch their eye and pull them in.
Remember, up until about nine years ago, sites that were the go-to for us programmers were often a hot mess visually. They did the job, sure, but they weren’t winning any beauty contests. And yet, they were crucial for us. Now, imagine if those sites had been as engaging and well-designed as they were functional.
We’re crafting experiences, not just tools. The design is that first handshake, the welcome mat. It’s got to invite people in and make them want to stay, explore, and use what we’ve built. And let’s be honest: most of our users aren’t looking under the hood; they interact with the surface. They want something that looks good and feels right.
So, while we’re all on making our apps top-notch in function, let’s remember the power of a compelling design to snag that initial attention. It’s about hitting that sweet spot where everything works like a charm and looks like a dream. That’s the game changer.