Author: Bobby Burdette

Categories
Design

Genius Designer – Are you one?

So there has been a lot of talk lately as to what is the best approach to digital design. Should it be user focused? Should it be data driven? How much does any of that matter? Can data driven design be the wrong approach?

Well last night my wife (@alexaseretti) and I got into a discussion about a 3rd type of designer or design team. The GENIUS DESIGNER. From a great article by Jared Spool:

Genius design is a sophisticated approach to making design decisions. Through deep study of similar projects, a team learns what works and what doesn’t. This makes the team more valuable over time, bringing it to a new level with every subsequent project. We’re seeing more teams take the plunge with the genius design approach. It’s a great way to move away from the commoditization of design work, while delivering real value to clients.

I personally consider myself a hybrid between a user focused designer and a genius designer (although I think that title is cheesy). My career has focused me on 4 particular “genius” subjects. Financial, eCommerce, Healthcare and more generically Branding. Any designer who has spent any amount of time with a client or working in-house has probably developed some of these “genius” skills.

I think this all leads me to the approach Google has taken in the past couple of years. It’s a cross between focusing on the user and the data but letting the designer, the “genius”, add their 2 cents. They can really help focus the design taking into consideration the other factors and adding a style to things that is just as important. This has proven to work for them and it shows.

Categories
Design Development UX

Jack of all trades, master of none? I think not.

Is a line being drawn in the sand about what makes a Web Designer?

Possibly. While i agree with some of this excellent article written by GORKA MOLERO, there are some parts of it that are a stretch for me.
I have a lot of respect for Andy Rutldge but I’ve never really agreed with this:

‘A designer who does not write markup and css is not designing for the web, but drawing pictures’

I think there is always going to be a seat in the room for a UX/UI designer that isn’t necessarily an expert at Front-End/CSS or jQuery. Personally I would trust a UX/UI designer to craft the look and feel of a site/product over an expert coder. I mean, have you seen sites created by IT teams or people that have spent the past few years becoming an expert coder? YIPES! I think a designer and developer is a team not one person. This team should be the best at what they do and be able to finish each others sentences so the product is as good as it can be. They should be able to talk each others language and even dabble a bit in each others world. But leave the code to the coders and the design to the designers. Agile and Lean UX/UI techniques play well in this scheme if you have the resources.

I think when you ask one person to be great at both design and development, they suffer from being a “Jack of all trades, master of none.” This produces a sub-par product. But just my 2 cents.

Categories
Design

The Value of Design

The Value of Design

Categories
Design

UX Design Philosophy

I was asked recently by a fellow creative what my UX and Design philosophy is. I was taken back by the fact that I didn’t have a solid answer for him. I’ve been bouncing this around in my head for the past few days or weeks or however long it’s been, and I think I can finally put it into words. Before working at Dicks Sporting Goods, my philosophy for digital creative was actually more of a differentiator between what I thought digital vs traditional creative was. “Traditional creative is simply consumed. Digital creative is actually being used. It is a product, not just a pretty picture. It has to WORK.”

“The user is ALWAYS right. I am NEVER the user.”

To me this says it all. No matter what you think you know about design, or usability, or creativity, if the end user doesn’t get it, you fail.

This is at the core of what being creative is all about. If you can open your mind up to the fact that you’re not always right, in fact you’re probably usually wrong about what your end user thinks, then you’ve reached a point in your career that you can truly be a creative. This is what separates digital/ux creatives apart from the rest. We want to know what works, what converts, what makes the needle move. We can actually go out and find out what works and what doesn’t, we can test and iterate and modify our product to best meet the needs of our users or our clients users. This doesn’t make us less creative, quite the opposite.

This philosophy is worth more to me than an ADDY or WEBBY because to me, at this point in my career, a satisfied user is the real prize in this game of digital marketing. Some might not find that appealing as a creative or marketer, but it’s what gets me up every day.

 

 

 

Categories
Design UX

GoodUI.org

I ran into this excellent site today.

GoodUI.org – 17 quick tips on how to be a better UI Designer. I noticed that a lot of these tips cross over into “content strategy”. Check it out, it’s a fun and easy read.

A Good User Interface has high conversion rates and is easy to use. In other words, it’s nice to both the business side as well as the people using it. Here is a running list of practical ideas to try out.

Categories
Mobile Strategy

Googles Mobile SEO Algorithm Update Screams Responsive Web Design

A few days ago Google announced a change to their algorithm that really favors sites that are built using the best in class design patters of Responsive Web Design (RWD).

According to Search Engine Watch Google has really made the way you put together your mobile site even more important.

The main emphasis of their post is this: if in doubt, connect the user to the content they want on a non-mobile page, rather than direct them to an incorrect mobile-formatted page.

For instance, having a blanket redirect to your mobile homepage when the site detects a user is on a smartphone, despite the fact they have clicked on a deep link, has now been called out as an explicit no-no

I think we all probably believe that RWD in some form or another is the future of the mobile web, but this move by Google might just be the update that the rest of the world needed to push the strategy into the main stream. Clients are used to SEO conversations and so explaining this to them and getting them to realize they need a new Responsive site, should be a no-brainer.

Categories
Articles Design Events

NOTES: Future Insight Live – Monday Work Session

Interaction Design – Beyond the Wireframe

Interaction designers should be involved in all parts of “The Process” but typically only get used in the “Design” phase.

Mind Blowing moment #1: “The  Interface isn’t the solution!!”

Major step that is ALWAYS missing in design. NO STRATEGY behind the WHY of the site. Jumping to the interface isn’t the right solution. We don’t solve the problem without synthesizing or strategizing the solution.  This creates too many revision, no respect for IxD, and makes the designer crazy.

So how do we fix this problem of not thinking enough before jumping to an interface????

Things to think about:

  • Who am I working with?
  • Who can help me solve the problem?
  • What is the problem?
  • Who am I solving for?
  • What is information/content that I’m working with?
  • Modeling the solution (sans interface)
  • Getting the team on board <<< YIPES
  • What is the information priority?

———————-BREAK TIME—————————

Categories
Articles Brands Mobile

Brands’ Greatest Mobile Challenges

It’s always interesting to hear what brands perceptions are about a certain trend or new technology or method in web design. In this case: MOBILE.

An article today on Digiday show’s how some of the top brands in the country are thinking about mobile. I’ve personally uttered some of the same comments that these CMO’s and CEO’s are saying here so it’s nice to hear that some of the  conversation is making it’s way up the ranks.

Since I currently do not work at a “brand” but instead for an agency that handles many brands I would like to add my two cents. I think the greatest mobile challenge for brands is finding people, either in house or at an agency, that truly get mobile and have the brands best interest at heart. It’s been a struggle to get older traditional creatives and account people to think mobile first, which is the proper way to think about mobile if you’re going to venture into it.

Brands’ Greatest Mobile Challenges | Digiday.

Categories
Articles Development Mobile

Windows 8 takes 1 percent of Web usage as Internet Explorer gains

This is a great article about web browser usage after the launch of Windows 8.

Most shocking thing about this whole article is that IE6 is STILL on the list. SIGH.

Read the whole article here on Ars Techinca: Windows 8 takes 1 percent of Web usage as Internet Explorer gains | Ars Technica.

Categories
Agencies Design Strategy

Confessions of a Big-Agency Top Digital Exec | Digiday

I read an article this morning and it’s one of the most depressing things I’ve read in a while. It’s depressing only because it’s so true. The last question/answer is the one that has been sticking with me the most:

If you were to start an agency from scratch, what would it look like?

You have to work out why you are doing what you do. If you want to make money, then there are two ways. Go to a big agency and just wait it out. Play by the rules, don’t try to change too much, but make the appearance that you are changing. Don’t fight for any real change or interesting work but enough not to get fired. But you probably have five years of that left. If you are lucky.

I find it amazing that we’re still 5 years out from agencies and their clients understanding digital. I thought we were 5 years out 9 years ago. Sigh.

Every now and then I see a glimmer of hope that things are progressing, but that usually gets quickly extinguished by something stupid like politics or ideas from a traditional creative POV that just reeks of “so 2004”.

I highly recommend reading this article. It’s excellent.

via Confessions of a Big-Agency Top Digital Exec | Digiday.