8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers (Non-Designers) Make | Hacker News Reader

8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers (Non-Designers) Make

wakeuplater.com

32 pointsgerman21 comments

On the flip side, I can't stand building out a XHTML/CSS site from a designer that comes from a print background. No considerations from the design side are made for the web world. None of the front-end developers I work with would make the mistakes listed but these guys and gals think of their work like an art. To faithfully render the designers mockups into a document that can be rendered identically across browsers and platforms in the fastest way is their goal.

The points about free fonts and stock photography. Using system standard free fonts is good for several reasons including initial cost. The main reason I favor system standard fonts is being able to render headers and menus in text versus having to load up and image which is wasted bandwidth for most cases. Stock photography purchases are also tough to swallow for a developer but in a proper setting the developer for the site shouldn't worry about the cost of things because he isn't footing the bill! If it is a developers personal project, understand that he is a do-it-yourself kinda person and will want everything for inexpensive or free.

Sorry this article got me worked up a bit. I felt I fell into the developer (non-designer) category but I don't know anyone so full of themselves to make many of those mistakes. Can't we all just get along? ;)

Yea, I can't stand print designers who try to do web. They think that all web browsers are fixed width. I have vowed to never work on another project with a print designer. It's just too much work and I end up designing the site myself.

I also think its very helpful if developers learn at least basics of good design in case they have to make some minor changes.

I had to deal with a print designer recently. It was not pretty.

Check it out here: http://www.cocunderground.com/fpt.jpg

As far as what's wrong with it, I'm sure you can figure that out. It's still a lot better than what they have currently: freepromotips.com.

Mistake #9: "I'll spend lots of time making it marginally prettier instead of building out features"

As a developer who works with designers alot (cukerdesign.com), the things I have found most often in contention are 1. white space, 2. when fonts Need to be a certain way, and 3. colors matching (often with photoshop, comps and such, colors get a bit altered due to colorspaces).

That being said, I think it is much easier for a coder to pick up on what is important for designers than vice versa.

I have a suggestion on color matching problems from design to implementation. I have asked the designers at my employer to mark in the mockups the hex color values for all elements in the design. This is a small extra step on their part that settles disputes before they start. They also mark font sizes and line-height (they call it leading I think) where needed.

I think there is a bare-minimum design quality necessary to launch a web product. The limit depends on the audience. If your design is below that limit, users will bounce off the page. Effort to exceed the limit is probably a waste. A site just needs to look good enough to seem 'legit'.

That is a programmer speaking.

Design is just like code, there is a version 1.0 that works, but isn't great and still needs some features. So you iterate on the code based on feedback and your own ideas. Design is the same, and if you include usability I think it is more important to iterate on your design than your code.

I did a consulting gig for a semi-large online retailer where we changed the design, the flow of the site, etc. Primarily design changes. And their turnover rose by 30% because of it.

That's how important design is.

This Month tip: "If you really want to know if your Web site works, ask your next door neighbor to try using it, while you watch.

(You bring the beer.)"

Taken from Advanced Common Sense (http://www.sensible.com/) I really recommend the book.

Wish you were my neighbour...

Mmmmm... beer...

Hahahaha, drop me a line if you ever come to Lima-Peru, I'll buy you a beer. :P

:-)

Just look at http://checkout.google.com

It's a recently launched web application. The layout is just one huge <table>. There is no design to speak of. Probably because none is needed.

That's a programmer speaking too ;-)

First, it doesn't matter whether the page is made with tables, divs, or strawberry marmelade - the user will never know.

Second, don't think that just because something looks like it wasn't designed that it isn't. A large part of googles success lies in its simple design, bordering on the naive. Don't think that this isn't intentional and that a lot of hours haven't gone into designing it.

I don't get his point. If you're an artist and not a developer, just submit your PSD to a service like psd2html.com, and bada bing bada boom you've got yourself xhtml 1.0 transitional, CSS based design, etc. If you're a developer, you're usually better off hiring some nice design company...unless of course you're skilled enough to handle both design and code? In which case...you'd probably know all this 8 tips he gives?

And if you don't know these general ideas, why not just hire someone? Learning design takes a LOT of time, more time than most math/science/computer oriented coders are willing to spend simply on artsy design.

The list:

"I Know What Looks Good (and I Have Photoshop)"

"Just Use Blue and White Again"

"I'll Just Center Everything"

"Use the Free Font...It Looks Fine to Me"

"We Can Fit More Information in That Space"

"I'm Not Paying for a Picture"

"I Don't Need to Ask for Opinions"

"No Need to Get Too Detailed"

Do we really need a lecture on design from a site where every link opens in a new window or tab?

I had a similar thought. Try the sites that the article links too as "good design". In nearly every case each site was clearly made by an artist in the worst sense of the word -- The designs didn't map to what the page was trying to do, it was far too cluttered with pageantry, and there was far too much frill.

If the article's writer thinks those are the _best_ designs out there, then I suspect the opinions are somewhat limited.

"Just Use Blue and White Again"

Screw that, this is the best rule ever! Really, why not? I have no designer ego to feed.

UI != design, UI complimented by design = yes

UI designer != graphic designer

Yes, this sounds just like me.

And yes, I really oughta do something about it.

One of these days.

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