Michael Gaigg: Über UI/UX Design

Beware of the Frankenstein Design

Frankenstein Design

"It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open..." (Chapter 5). Sounds familiar to us geeky programmers out there? Yes, and the root of all evil are clients that design their webpage from a sushi menu, picking whatever they like.

Usually I encourage my clients to look around, get inspired and show me what they like. It gives me a sense of how they think and into which directions they want us to go. But never forget: Clients identify problems, designers provide solutions! Understand why the client shows you a specific page or design element and what exactly they like in it. Don't feel pressured to include every detail in your final design otherwise you wake up at 1am facing a yellow-eyed creature and you'll end up with a Frankenstein Design.

Warning Signals

What are warning signals that your project might face a Frankenstein Design?

• Client mentions Stakeholders too often. Money makes the world go round, but will eventually ruin the user experience.
• Client fell in love with a bad design. Try to build solid knowledge about good and bad design principles so you can explain the pro's and con's of a particular design.
• Client needs to please too many interests. It's understandable that every party involved wants to see their logo on the page, but honestly, one is enough
• Client decides on a color scheme. Besides corporate colors clients feel strongly about certain colors that either clash with your design, psychological theory or existing color schemes or are simply bad taste altogether.
• Client has no idea at all. That means trouble! Not now, but once you are done. Guaranteed.
• Got more?

What you can do

• Listen. Hear what the client tells you and try to understand why they say it.
• Feel. Sense what the underlying need is and translate it into design elements.
• Talk. Speak up, don't shut up, don't wait until it's too late.
• Fight. Pick your battles, don't let rules overrule what you think is right, at least voice it.
• Reconsider. Don't get hooked to an idea too strongly, be open to erase your white-board drawings and start over.
• Document. Make notes, sketch ideas, capture screens, summarize. Send these notes out.
• CYA. Cover your ass, seek consensus and approval, set it in stone through written acknowledgments (mockups help).

Send me your experiences? What is missing on this list?

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About Michael Gaigg

Michael Gaigg is a User Interface Expert at ESRI. His expertise includes User-centered Design (UCD), Usability, Accessibility and Section 508, Web Development and Web Design.