/Opinion/ Design Eye for the web guy
21/11/2008 | Filed under Discover > Opinion
Andrei Herasimchuk explains how he was inspired by reality show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to bring fresh vision to existing web design
I remember being annoyed by one of Jakob Nielsen’s articles on Useit.com and wrote a vitriolic rant in response. But upon reading it later I realised it wasn’t going to properly communicate what I know to be true: that design is a holistic exercise – one that must solve problems for both the form and the function of the final product.
Then the idea occurred to me: why not follow the example set by Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? That popular reality television series was a case study in how to communicate the benefits of good design. I thought it would be interesting to try to follow that model and see what happened. I threw away my rant, sketched an outline for a new approach and then promptly enlisted the help of some of the best designers in the business [Didier Hilhorst, Bronwyn Jones, Cameron Moll, Paul Nixon, D Keith Robinson, Ryan Sims and Greg Storey] to rework the entire thing. The result was ‘Design Eye for the Usability Guy’.
The reaction to that original Design Eye article was amazing, far more than ever expected. With its success, we took the Design Eye series to South by Southwest, resulting in projects that got progressively bigger – tackling Craigslist and even the SXSW site itself this year.
In the end, outside the specific design solutions and processes that emerged, I learned two simple lessons from the experience, lessons that I think have value for all designers in their everyday work and processes.
Show, don’t tell
First, showing the solution will always be stronger than describing it. Yes, it’s often as simple as that. How many times have you sat in a meeting where, even after all the sketching or wireframing, arguments were still breaking out on the product’s design approach? The reason for that is simple: there’s a threshold you pass in the design of any product where seeing it is required. Once you pass that threshold, you must show a real design, prototype or mock-up of the final product. No amount of discussion will get you past this point.
The Design Eye experience reinforced what I’ve learned the hard way many times in the past. People need to see it. Without seeing it, what you tend to get is a lot of never-ending discussions about what might be right or might be wrong with a particular design decision.
One of the reasons shows such as Queer Eye work so well is that its designers rarely belittle their subject. And whenever they do get direct, they try to use humour to soften the blow. In order to do this, you often have to empathise with your subject. In the case of the Design Eye series, that also meant taking their point of view.
Surprisingly enough, doing so has two side-benefits. First, it enables you to find ways to communicate your desired solution in a manner that leaves a larger opening for people to agree with you, putting you into a position of strength and power. Second, it often makes your design solutions stronger because your final design work is less about you – it’s about the person or product for which you’re doing the work.
How do you empathise with your subject or customers in your everyday work? No matter how upset you get with someone on a project, you have to find ways to remind yourself that it’s not about you. After that, there are easier ways to get yourself into empathy mode. One simple tool is to ask “why?” any time you find yourself getting annoyed or disheartened with a particular part of the design process. The act of asking “why?” is often enough to pull you out of the morass you might find yourself in, allowing you to get back to the heart of the problem you’re trying to solve.
I often find myself coming back to these two lessons. They help immensely in the design process for all my clients. But rather than take my word for it, try them yourself. The next time an executive says, “I don’t like that colour”, pause a moment, take a breath and simply ask them: “Why?” Their answer may surprise you. That’s a good thing.
Andrei Herasimchuk is a principal of Silicon Valley-based digital product design firm Involution Studios.
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