Judging the book by its cover
Creating expectations is what a designer does. We tell you what you are looking at, before you make a decision to read more and delve deeper. We are asking you to “please, judge this book by it’s cover.” While this may not be the best practice in life, it’s a commanding force in our consumerized society and it is the way of the trade for designers.
For good or for bad, we designers carry a responsibility. At Object Adjective, we dedicate a good portion of our time developing web applications. The question of how true the cover should be to the book, is one that comes up often when we’re designing applications targeted for early beta. There are two general considerations we make. The first being, and this is typically the one a favored by designers, is the need to create an enticing and marketable design. The second, which is primarily a consideration for the end user, is to avoid creating false user expectations by designing something much slicker on the outside, than the insides can live up to. In other words, making sure the cover fits the book.
A. Beta on Beta
As an example, let’s look one application we’re working on. Sidereel was a fast paced, on your feet and run kind of project. We teamed up with some expatriate developers from Guba and set out to roll the new application out to the public in an early beta, and it all in under 2 months. The goal was to get it out there as quick as possible. This included, coming up with a name, designing a logo, developing branding and language, and oh yes, designing a functional user interface that would satisfy the needs of the user and the application.
From the eginning we knew many of the more advanced functionality in development would have to be phase 2 features, we decided to approach the frontend design in a way that would be consistantwith the current state of the backend, as it evolved.
Sidereel 1.01
Sidereel 1.02
This approach for rolling out a “Beta Design” to match a “Beta Application” may seem a bit unorthodox, and maybe it is. It’s the first time we’ve ever tackled a project in this way, but the results may shock you. Contrary to what we as designers thought, the beta on beta release has actually seemed to work quite well, or so the numbers seem to tell us.
B. Spit on Polish
On the flip side, we have a more traditional way of thinking. It’s an “if it looks like you built it, they will come,” kind of thinking. Don’t get me wrong, good design and solid branding are cornerstones to a successful product, but in the web industry, we may want to rethink the tradition. Is image more important than accuracy? If the image is misleading for the current state of an application, users may be more likely to get frustrated with it.
In the current state of mass application frenzy, perhaps the super glassy trend in web 2.0 design has more to do with Emerald City, than with cool new design trick. Just a thought.
Make it shiny enough, and maybe all users will see when they come to your site is their own reflection. And maybe that’s all there is.
