DBS Interactive Blog

As web designers, we’ve learned one very valuable lesson: creating a design that pleases everyone is impossible and in attempting to do so, we lose sight of the project’s original intentions.

Design is naturally subjective, eliciting different emotions based on the individual viewer. In the early planning stages of any project, target audiences and goals are listed in order to preemptively remedy this problem. Unfortunately, these well-intentioned guidelines are often lost once the first pixel is placed on the screen. When the design of a site is viewed as nothing more than an aesthetic skin, personal opinion takes over and the design begins to lose its original intent.

Simply because we are the professionals does not mean we can expect clients to take our word for any design decision. Yet, blanket statements such as “I don’t like this color” or “that graphic is too small” do not improve the design and offer no real constructive criticism. The statements are ultimately empty and leave the designer wondering. Instead, we should encourage reasoning behind any idea or adaptation, thereby keeping the process objective and oriented toward the original goals. “I don’t like this color because it will not appeal to our target audience” and “that graphic is too small for the elderly who will be the majority of our visitors” are objective, informed statements that help the design in more ways than just aesthetic appeal. Problems are solved, not created.

We’re not just addressing how external assessments are made, however. We understand that there is always room for internal improvement. We should exercise problem solving oriented practices even more so than anyone else, setting an example that will lead to good design, productive relationships and better end results.