Design killers

Design Killers

How to recognize when they’re killing your project and how to

bring good projects back from the brink of doom

Design Killers• Ruin good projects.• Sometimes, they kill off great

projects. • It’s a good idea to know that they’re

out there, so you can spot them in a lineup.

Meet the Usual Suspects

Meet the Usual Suspects

Marketing FluffHow to tell if fluff is killing you:• People are smiling at you, and you have no idea who they are• Unusually white teeth• Ubiquitous headset• There are words - too many of them.

Crimes of DiscontentIf you’re adding non-nutrious content to your site, be sure it’s actually dessert.

Content

How do you pick your content images?

Look at things.(Yes, I’m serious.)

1977

1977 (pong)

Art is Inspiration

Why bother?

Meet the Usual Suspects

Function Only BotHow to tell if it is killing you:• The UI only looks functional• Overuse of grey and khaki• Can’t tell if it’s a wireframe or a site

ExTERminATE !Don’t get me wrong.. Function over Form any day of the week. But if you’re playing it safe with defaults, you are headed for heartache. Actually, heartache would be preferable. You’re headed for blah.

Default

Lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.

Some art is “just decorative”

Some art is createdto match your sofa

Some art is createdto make people say

“oh how pretty!”

Metro

Panorama

How to solve the case:

Admit it. Humans are emotional.

Meet the Usual Suspects

Carsick UnicornsHow to tell if color is killing you:• Your eyes bleed when you see it *• wincing *• animated gifs

(*unless you are colorblind, which in many cases leaves you blissfully immune)

Color

Color

What it is and what it’s good (and bad) for

Color

Warm

Cool

How to solve the case:

Pick a limited palette that’s consistent with your brand.

Why have Design Guidelines?

Myspace Customization Facebook

Great Color Resources

Meet the Usual Suspects

Crasher SquirrelHow to tell if bad UX is killing you:• Apart from being a squirrel, he’s a popup• You are trying to do something and something is blocking you

InterruptionIf you are interrupting someone using your product, just like in real life, you’re being rude. Be sure there is a good reason for it.Most of the time, popup interruptions will be seen as an advertisement and people will try to skip or instinctively avoid looking at it. This includes splash screens and page interruption adverts.

UX

(bless you?)

How to solve the case:

Remember what you set out to do, and let your customers

do it as easily as possible.

Meet the Usual Suspects

Miss AlignmentHow to if layout is killing you:• Content spills out of containing boxes• Angles aren’t consistent•Or, everything is so angular it hurts to look at it.

Tends to work with her brother, “Buster” and often a crew of minions called “browser bugs”

Layout

Three things to keep in mind

Lin Bolin

Seeing the Invisible

Create order with grids.

Thanks, Lokesh! Check out his blog: www.lokeshdhakar.com

Thanks, Lokesh! Check out his blog: www.lokeshdhakar.com

How to solve the case:

Keep the Design in Mind.

Meet the Usual Suspects

Comic SansHow to tell if typography is killing you: • In addition to comic sans, it could be any font that isn’t matching the branding of the project• Comic Sans is a sad clown. He wants to be used in fun invitations to kid parties. But he keeps getting put in inappropriate settings, like corporate reports.

Typography

Meet the (font) Family.

And then she saw it…

And then she saw it…

And then she saw it… Oh, y

ou get the id

ea.

And then she saw it…And then she saw it…

ome Good Type Resources

Killers?

Community? You’re soaking in it!

Code Camps, User Groups, Meetups, and Tweetups

You’re already here.Go ahead and ask around!

(Or you’re watching this online)DM me @dianeleeper

Blogs, Sites, Online Magazines

SmashingMagazine

Abduzedo.com

visitmix.com

Interaction Design: www.ixda.org

Conventions: Mix, Max, and SXSW

SXSW.com

2009.max.adobe.com/online2010.max.adobe.com/online

videos.visitmix.com = MIX09live.visitmix.com = MIX10

Microsoft.com/design/toolbox