Several years ago, WIRED magazine’s cover story announced “The End of Science.” The subtitle summed it up: “The quest for knowledge used to begin with grand theories. Now it begins with massive amounts of data.” Design too begins with grand theories. Theories of aesthetics, assumptions of what others will like, and predictions of what will [...]
20
May
Is There a Substitute for Speed?
Growing up, my dad would encouragingly say, “There’s no substitute for speed.” He was coaching me to leverage my primary asset as a nine-year-old playing sports with older, taller, and stronger kids. Regardless of my age and size, speed helped me succeed. Recently, the leader of a large redesign project proclaimed that speed was the [...]
01
Apr
Simple Decisions Aren’t Always Simple
“Simpler” is usually one of the most common descriptions used when discussing a redesign. And “easier-to-use” is a close second. Sound familiar? They should. These conventional intentions are worthy end goals and evident in many successful experiences we have online. Unfortunately, I’ve found that most redesign projects struggle to stick to criteria that have the [...]
01
Feb
Creative Myth (part 1)
Much attention is given to the concept of creative when hiring, managing, and designing Website projects. It’s a term defined by the advertising profession that now invades our vocabulary: the creative as commodity, Creatives as a pronoun, creative thinking as a process, creative direction, etc. But how does creative ensure success? Does more creative result in more [...]
01
Jan
Sales vs. Profit Mentality
You wouldn’t ask a neurologist to perform open heart surgery or an electrical engineer to design a bridge. But many expect that level of wide-ranging ability from advertising and Website design experts. In reality the two focus on different factors that yield different results. Consider the chart below outlining the inherent differences between advertising and design: [...]
01
Dec
How Design Decisions Get Made
Have you ever tried to quantify design? It’s hard. We don’t time it, score it, or even quantify our judging of it. We don’t sell it on the free market by the dozen, meter, or pound. Throughout my career, I’ve found that clients and designers alike treat design as a spectator sport—something artistic to be judged [...]
01
Nov
Design as a verb
Most understand design as an object, a noun. We hear things like, “we need a new design,” or, “we like that design.” And it’s only natural—it’s easier to relate to an object. Things we look at are nouns, artifacts, decoration, etc. But let’s consider design as a verb. If you want objects designed to decorate [...]
01
Oct
Can Great Ideas Be Tested?
Ideas alone are worthless. Implementing ideas can be worth billions, save lives, and overthrow governments. Testing ideas is as old as having them. It’s the underwriting of man’s progress. Advertising great George Lois is known for proclaiming, “Great ideas can’t be tested. Only mediocre ideas can be tested.” Lois helped spark the creative revolution of [...]