November 27, 2008 at 13:46Layout development: let's not ask a cleaning lady this time?
It’s not enough for anyone to tell programmers how to write code (although some even manage to indicate to database designers), but to show the designer how to draw is a direct line-up.
This is because all “specialists” know: design is a beautiful picture.
Design is only 20% art, 80% is an exact science. And you will be surprised when you find out what each picture actually consists of.
Oh, every second project begins with the fact that they send me an approved layout of the main page of the site.
- How interesting ... You probably already have site requirements?
- No, no.
- And please send me at least a sitemap.
“She's not there.”
- Ok, what about the audience and goals? What is it and for whom?
“We haven't thought about that yet.”
Why it happens? Do they not understand ?!
No, they don’t understand. And this happens because all the “specialists” know: design is a beautiful picture.
But you and I know that this is not so.
Any layout is the result of solving a certain problem. People who draw on a whim or are guided by a sense of beauty, need to be taken out of the Moscow Ring Road and shot.
Design. It. Decision. Tasks.
If there is no task, close Photoshop and go look for it!
“Nine days on a tractor on a snowy steppe - beauty was never easy”
- BG
Design is only 20% art, 80% is an exact science. And you will be surprised when you find out what each picture actually consists of.
(the picture was drawn by sinner . thanks, sinner !) The
business goals of the resource + potential user and his needs + content requirements + functional requirements + design of the resource structure + navigation design + graphic design development - these are 7 components of the design that works.
Let's take a closer look.
To make the world a better place, to strengthen the reputation, to occupy a new niche, to earn all the money of the world with the help of banners causing epilepsy - these are all business goals. And it is they who primarily determine the final solution. So, for example, a business goal determines the arrangement of blocks on the main page or semantic accents (or the structure of the resource, or the absence / presence of an online store, or ...).
A constant return to business goals helps to eliminate the need to develop redundant functionality (“Well, it's so cool!” - “Yes, but you wanted to enter the market of nano-coloring for children, where is blackjack and whores here?”).
A user with his needs is as important as a business goal. Admit honestly, every time you say “Everything is fine, but users don’t like it”, you actually reduce personal scores with green, dice, selectors and have no idea who your users are and what they like.
(Even if after “... users don’t like it”, you’re capable of a lengthy speech about global trends in interface design and recent studies.)
You are going to make a product (it doesn’t matter if it is a site or a toilet) that people will use. Who are they? What do they live with? What problems are they facing? What are they thinking? What do they eat for dinner? What class fly to hot countries and do they fly there at all? Why would they want to spend their time and money on your product?
The more you know about your users, the easier it is to predict their behavior, the easier it is to offer what they really need.
And this, believe me, is much easier than making unnecessary things to buy.
And remember: 21-35 years old, successful, Muscovites and blablabla are not the audience, this is the average temperature in the hospital, which is embarrassing to show even to brainless advertisers.
Between twenty and thirty years old there is a huge abyss and you know this very well.
Most likely this happened to you. You diligently collected the requirements, wrote a good, detailed technical task, drew a beautiful design for it, made it all cross-browser, developed it on time (uti-pusi!), Fixed all the critical bugs, transferred the development to trial operation and ... everything broke. The layouts are beautiful, disgusting in life. How so?
And like this! Design is a beautiful (or not so) shell for the essence. If you develop a design in isolation from the data that will then live in it, it will turn out as always. Editorial, advertising, user-generated - think how it should be and how it will be on your site and decide (at least in the first approximation) how it will look. And if the text is short? And if there are no pictures? Think carefully about it - everything happens in life.
What will the user be able to do on the site? By what principles will the contents of the main page be updated? Will there be a newsletter subscription? What about RSS? A...? Here you have to remember and write down all your fantasies. Even the most ... uh ... brave.
“And add some cool little move,” as one of my customers liked to say.
Design is just a way of presenting information. In order to show the user, you have decided on the “Content Requirements” stage, it remains to decide how to submit it to him.
Your task is to sort the information and divide it into homogeneous groups, which you can then work on further. Divide into sections or evaluate their specific gravity in terms of potential users or business tasks.
We must somehow decide what will be in the upper right corner and what is in the lower left.
Not on rock-paper-scissors, in fact ...
Worse than lack of navigation can only be very poor navigation.
At this stage, you have to determine the principles of navigation for the resource, work out the main and additional navigation, determine the principles of transition between sections.
Paper page prototypes help a lot.
Well. Now we understand what, for whom and for what purpose we are going to produce. In addition, we decided on what and how we show the user.
And only now FINALLY! You can take up the production of pictures.
I’ll tell you more about the image production process in the article “The process of developing graphic layouts from the point of view of the project manager”.
This is because all “specialists” know: design is a beautiful picture.
Design is only 20% art, 80% is an exact science. And you will be surprised when you find out what each picture actually consists of.
Oh, every second project begins with the fact that they send me an approved layout of the main page of the site.
- How interesting ... You probably already have site requirements?
- No, no.
- And please send me at least a sitemap.
“She's not there.”
- Ok, what about the audience and goals? What is it and for whom?
“We haven't thought about that yet.”
Why it happens? Do they not understand ?!
No, they don’t understand. And this happens because all the “specialists” know: design is a beautiful picture.
But you and I know that this is not so.
Design is Math
Any layout is the result of solving a certain problem. People who draw on a whim or are guided by a sense of beauty, need to be taken out of the Moscow Ring Road and shot.
Design. It. Decision. Tasks.
If there is no task, close Photoshop and go look for it!
Design is a process
“Nine days on a tractor on a snowy steppe - beauty was never easy”
- BG
Design is only 20% art, 80% is an exact science. And you will be surprised when you find out what each picture actually consists of.
(the picture was drawn by sinner . thanks, sinner !) The
business goals of the resource + potential user and his needs + content requirements + functional requirements + design of the resource structure + navigation design + graphic design development - these are 7 components of the design that works.
Let's take a closer look.
Resource Business Objectives
To make the world a better place, to strengthen the reputation, to occupy a new niche, to earn all the money of the world with the help of banners causing epilepsy - these are all business goals. And it is they who primarily determine the final solution. So, for example, a business goal determines the arrangement of blocks on the main page or semantic accents (or the structure of the resource, or the absence / presence of an online store, or ...).
A constant return to business goals helps to eliminate the need to develop redundant functionality (“Well, it's so cool!” - “Yes, but you wanted to enter the market of nano-coloring for children, where is blackjack and whores here?”).
Potential user and his needs
A user with his needs is as important as a business goal. Admit honestly, every time you say “Everything is fine, but users don’t like it”, you actually reduce personal scores with green, dice, selectors and have no idea who your users are and what they like.
(Even if after “... users don’t like it”, you’re capable of a lengthy speech about global trends in interface design and recent studies.)
You are going to make a product (it doesn’t matter if it is a site or a toilet) that people will use. Who are they? What do they live with? What problems are they facing? What are they thinking? What do they eat for dinner? What class fly to hot countries and do they fly there at all? Why would they want to spend their time and money on your product?
The more you know about your users, the easier it is to predict their behavior, the easier it is to offer what they really need.
And this, believe me, is much easier than making unnecessary things to buy.
And remember: 21-35 years old, successful, Muscovites and blablabla are not the audience, this is the average temperature in the hospital, which is embarrassing to show even to brainless advertisers.
Between twenty and thirty years old there is a huge abyss and you know this very well.
Content Requirements
Most likely this happened to you. You diligently collected the requirements, wrote a good, detailed technical task, drew a beautiful design for it, made it all cross-browser, developed it on time (uti-pusi!), Fixed all the critical bugs, transferred the development to trial operation and ... everything broke. The layouts are beautiful, disgusting in life. How so?
And like this! Design is a beautiful (or not so) shell for the essence. If you develop a design in isolation from the data that will then live in it, it will turn out as always. Editorial, advertising, user-generated - think how it should be and how it will be on your site and decide (at least in the first approximation) how it will look. And if the text is short? And if there are no pictures? Think carefully about it - everything happens in life.
Product requirements
What will the user be able to do on the site? By what principles will the contents of the main page be updated? Will there be a newsletter subscription? What about RSS? A...? Here you have to remember and write down all your fantasies. Even the most ... uh ... brave.
“And add some cool little move,” as one of my customers liked to say.
Resource Structure Design
Design is just a way of presenting information. In order to show the user, you have decided on the “Content Requirements” stage, it remains to decide how to submit it to him.
Your task is to sort the information and divide it into homogeneous groups, which you can then work on further. Divide into sections or evaluate their specific gravity in terms of potential users or business tasks.
We must somehow decide what will be in the upper right corner and what is in the lower left.
Not on rock-paper-scissors, in fact ...
Navigation Design
Worse than lack of navigation can only be very poor navigation.
At this stage, you have to determine the principles of navigation for the resource, work out the main and additional navigation, determine the principles of transition between sections.
Paper page prototypes help a lot.
Graphic Design Development
Well. Now we understand what, for whom and for what purpose we are going to produce. In addition, we decided on what and how we show the user.
And only now FINALLY! You can take up the production of pictures.
I’ll tell you more about the image production process in the article “The process of developing graphic layouts from the point of view of the project manager”.