Hacker News Reader

I've had this problem so many times. I'm so sorry. Build what the want visually, and then show them a better alternative after. Helps if you can separate the visual from the technical so you don't have to rewrite the backend when the front end changes.

View on HN

I did just that so he could compare. I wrote "Spec" over the his design and "My Humble Suggestion" over my design along with explanations for the changes. Example: "4 different shades of blue; perhaps sub optimal for "at a glance" comprehension."

Instead of criticisms of his design (which are liable to just make him defensive), you may have more success providing explanations of the benefit of yours (“different colors for the Foo and Bar widgets make it easier for the user to find the information they’re looking for at a glance”).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com