

Keep Your Unsolicited Redesign to Yourself - karjaluoto
http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/keep-your-unsolicited-redesign-to-yourself/

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chris_wot
Reading this unsolicited rant was a waste of my time.

Who is the author to say what a designer should or shouldn't do?

I love the postscript, which shows the author has no idea what he's saying:

"A brief postscript: I fear that some confuse the nature of my posts as being
overly curmudgeonly or as intended to incite vitriolic debate. If you read
them carefully, though, you’ll realize that even in my crankiest seeming ones,
I’m just making an appeal for common sense."

It's a pity that what he's saying is _not_ commonsense, but merely a way of
dictating his own narrow view of the world.

~~~
cliffu
Right; if the author applied common sense he would have noticed that the
unsolicited rant is just as welcome as the unsolicited redesign, leaving a
free slot on HN for something worthwhile.

------
dictum
Better yet: show off your unsolicited design. _Just don 't be a dick about
it_. Don't assume the designers of the current version of the thing you're
redesigning are incompetent, and don't assume your version is the One True
Solution for that product/company. Especially because it probably isn't: when
you're making an unsolicited redesign, you don't have many of the constraints
a designer has working on a real project.

To be honest, I don't get the harsh, visceral reaction some people have to
unsolicited redesigns. I hate the attitude of many people who make such
redesigns too, but I'm not impassioned enough to see a redesign presented with
some humility as a personal affront.

The justification for many bad designs also rubs me the wrong way. I once read
that the worst pedant is the one who uses the complexity of things as an
excuse not to challenge the status quo. That a company has many bureaucratic
barriers, legacy systems, conflicting research and internal politics is not an
excuse for bad design. It's an explanation, but not an excuse.

I agree that designers should focus on creating things that will be actually
be used, solving a real problem. This requires business sense, though, even if
you're essentially working for free.

Real problems don't give you as much recognition as riding on the bandwagon of
some hot company. It's a sad fact, but nobody ever got famous for designing a
local deli website.

~~~
nhangen
I like your first line, and if I had a single criticism of this practice, it
would be the way in which design egoists need to bring others down in order to
bring their own designs up.

~~~
oblique63
It's not so much about the _practice_ itself as it is just a general
presentation problem.

It's alright to fork a particular software project if you don't like the way
the main branch is going, but good luck promoting it by throwing the original
under the bus. Same story when starting new competing projects/frameworks.
That slippery slope isn't unique to designers.

------
brianstorms
I disagree with the author.

Whenever I go on a trip abroad, upon my return I have always noticed new
perspectives not only on home, neighborhood, town, but also country and
culture.

Likewise, whenever I see alternate designs of something familiar, be it the
layout of a city, or a more efficient suburb, or a website, or a magazine, it
provides new perspective into the existing design. The alternate design might
suck, or be lacking in some ways, but it always helps view the old design with
fresh eyes.

So there is value.

On rare occasions, the proposed alternative design is better.

So it's win-win in my book, and this author needs to lighten up a bit.

------
throwaway420
Most unsolicited redesigns probably wouldn't work in the real world because
the designer doesn't know much about the business's goals, internal stats,
resources, internal politics, and other constraints.

But you know, they're still usually a lot of fun to check out. If all they do
is entertain a few people and get people thinking, I think they're worth it.

~~~
misterjangles
As a non designer I like looking at them too. I will admit that I usually
think to myself - this designer has no paying customers this month. But, I
feel like they are hustling and trying to drum up clients.

When I see these in a designers portfolio, though, presented as real work, I
feel like that is dishonest.

~~~
karjaluoto
You might be surprised by how many of them show up in portfolios. In fact,
such exercises aren't uncommon in design school. I review a lot of these
portfolios. I always think it would be nice to see what a new designer might
have done with a real project, instead of an imaginary one.

~~~
misterjangles
Yea I've seen them too. I'm like, ok this guy is fresh out of college with no
work experience and he's done major redesigns for Nike, Budweiser and Home
Depot?!

I definitely don't mind seeing whatever work a new grad has - we all have to
start somewhere. But, I just like to see it marked as schoolwork or whatever
so I can get some understanding of what part of the work they actually did.

The other thing is that I actually do regularly see portfolios with actual
work for major brands, so when I see it in a portfolio, I tend to assume its
real.

------
derefr
Interesting(ly warped) chain of deduction going on in this article:

1\. no True Professional Designer does unsolicited redesigns

2\. thus, everyone doing unsolicited redesigns must be novices (even though
specific professionals doing this, e.g. 37signals, were mentioned and scorned)

3\. novices must be doing this because they don't know any better, and don't
see any alternatives for becoming a True Professional (not because it's, say,
fun)

4\. thus, here is advice for novices on how to become a True Professional.
(Hint: it is the path the author took)

It reminds me of the sort of condescending attitude some parents have toward
their children--considering every difference of opinion to be the result of a
lack of experience, and thus requiring the child to be called aside for a
"life lesson."

For once, I'm glad HN is reacting to this as sourly as it is. :)

~~~
karjaluoto
Try this chain of deduction instead:

1\. Smart bloggers (e.g. the people at 37signals and a handful of others)
figure out that redesigns of popular websites are a great way to generate blog
traffic.

2\. Young designers see this trend, and think they can capitalize on it as
well.

3\. Many new designers start to spend their days working on spec designs,
hoping to either get some visibility or impress a prospective employer.

4\. They neither gain any actual design experience, nor do they (except for in
the rare case) get the interest they had hoped for.

There's a lot of real design work out there waiting for new designers. They
don't need to work for free, nor do they need to try to prove themselves by
"redesigning" what Jony Ive and his team have spent the past few years on.

Is that really so warped? ;-)

~~~
derefr
I think the main bit I could call "warped" was that, by the end of it, he's
implying that 37signals should go make some free webpages for local
businesses. Because, you know, since they're not True Professionals, they're
novices, and since they're novices, they need things to fluff their resumes
with.

Honestly, if the author had just left out any mention of the professional
designers who redesign things _for fun_ , in the "concept car" sort of way;
and specifically targeted the article right from the beginning at _only_ the
amateurs who think that "this is the way to recognition", then sure, it'd be a
fine article. I also would have skipped reading it, as I think would most of
HN--thus the underhanded form of argumentation required to come around from a
linkbait-y premise, to his actual point.

~~~
karjaluoto
In no way did I imply that 37signals should make free webpages. (I'd never
encourage a designer to work for free.) Instead, I was thinking back to when I
first saw of unsolicited redesigns appear. My best recollection was when
37signals used this approach to generate visibility for their firm.

------
lnanek2
Couldn't disagree more. One of the few blogs I subscribe to at the email level
is just a great designer doing this over and over. As a developer with no
design capability whatsoever, it has increased the quality of my output
immensely. If I need to write an email app, or anything with that structure,
boom, I can go check out a design authority on that. A lot of times the real
clients are actually just stuck with a lot of cruft they've never devoted a
full redesign to getting rid off, not handling details the designer didn't
cover. Even if they are, as a developer, I'll do what I have to do to make the
details work. It will look worse than the original vision, but overall the
looks will still be far above me on my own dropping clip art in.

~~~
mr_luc
Which blog is that?

I ask as a developer who feels similarly.

------
eksith
It's not a "watch-me-do-it-better-ism". It's a "what-if-ism".

I consider these to be the design equivalent of speculative fiction for
literature. It's an interesting exploration of a direction the designs could
have gone and what the original designers could have explored. It's design
curiosity, not one-upmanship.

------
jmduke
Unsolicited redesigns are great! Unsolicited dickishness is not.

There's a difference between really cool "what if" stuff that is done without
pretension or expectation (there was an awesome Microsoft rebranding last
year) and stuff like the linked NYT redesign, where the implication (and
outright argument) of the entire thing is "ha ha you guys are terrible! look
how great I am!"

------
pravda
My next essay will be titled, keep your unsolicited opinion about an
unsolicited redesign to yourself.

------
dictum
After posting my first comment, I found another angle:

Design can only do so much to make something bigger and better than it
actually is. I'm sure many novice web designers have dreamed of making a
groundbreaking website for a mom-and-pop business like a deli, but when they
got to make the website, they noticed how futile it would be to make an
incredible website for a small shop. Online orders—who's going to order
online? Contact page—a phone number should be enough, list the working hours
so people know when to call. List of products—why, a single paragraph is
enough. Keep going and all you get is a single page with a logo, a terse
description of the place, some pictures, and a phone number.

Few small business have the magic you'd need to tell a story, and if you can't
tell a story, you're left with a generic thing, desperately trying to
embellish it. I've seen many restaurant websites. I've allowed Flash to run
countless times just so I could open them, and I can tell: they all look the
same, and all of them lack soul. But I'll be honest: I don't think there's
much that can be done with a small budget, and knowing how small the audience
is.

A novice designer wants challenge, recognition, and the feeling of working for
the big players. You don't get this from working with most small local
businesses. At best, a website for a deli is just a stepping stone to a more
exciting project. I'm not sure you can convince a young person they just have
to keep working on boring projects (as morally good as they are) until they
get enough clout to work on what they fancy.

~~~
karjaluoto
I often hear such arguments, but the reality is that these smaller
projects/clients are just the sorts of projects new designers are going to
work on. They won't get the big assignments, and even if they did, they'd be
part of a much larger team, and few of their ideas would likely ever get past
all the others involved.

And, a good designer will find the story, even when working with a small
client. The problem with design jobs is almost never the client, or the
seeming lack of excitement in the project, but rather in the designer's
ability to tease out that story and give it form. Look at a project like the
design of Mailchimp. The subject matter might not seem exciting, but the
designers found a way to engage with the audience and present the story in a
compelling fashion. A lot of designers would look at that project as a drag;
they'd be sorely mistaken.

I once met with a young designer who was very frustrated by how boring his job
was. He complained about how all he ever got to do was design boring charts.
This seemed strange to me. He had the opportunity to take data and make it
intelligible to his audience. This was a hardcore design opportunity that he
was squandering because it seemed beneath him.

A project is only as boring as the designer chooses to make it.

~~~
chestnut-tree
I'm not sure why you've been downvoted because I think you make some perfectly
valid points.

I agree that a design job is what you make of it and approaching a project
with the mindset that it's just another run-of-the-mill project will only
produce run-of-the-mill output.

Everyone needs variety in their work to keep learning and feeling like they're
facing a new challenge.

------
dxhdr
The internet is a wonderful place-- anyone and everyone has free and equal
opportunity to put their thoughts, ideas, designs, up for display and
discussion. In my personal case, I'd rather have spent my 2 minutes elsewhere.

------
agonzales
I'm probably going to get a lot of flack as well, but I agree with the author.

The problem is that a number of the unsolicited redesigns come from a
standpoint that is often ignorant of the stuff that matters: client
requirements, existing user data, targets, different kinds of limitations
(budgetary, technological, timelines, etc. - basically what the author said,
and are thus often (always?) created in a perfect world-type vacuum.

If you've worked on (by that I mean you've lead the design on) medium to large
sites - the kind that involves teams bigger than 5 people (not including the
client's people), and involve thousands of uniques per month, monthly
turnovers of hundreds of thousands of dollars, A/B tests, and lots more,
you'll understand where the author is coming from.

Also, try putting yourself in the initial designer's shoes: you've worked on a
site for over 5 months, dealt with weekly client meetings, countless emails,
dozens of requirements, digested analytics, studied results of A/B tests,
learned about subtle yet important factors, such as the difference between
"buy now" and "add to cart" was an additional $50k each month, and then
suddenly Random Designer A goes: "hey, look how I made this sooooo much more
pretty!"

While young designers may think that the original designer's reaction is
something that a grumpy old fart would make; to more experienced designers,
all that Random Designer A did was expose his inexperience.

------
benjamincburns
Or yanno, don't.

Is it entertaining? Eh, sure -- to some. Is it valuable to the companies that
the redesigns target? Maybe, maybe not. Is it valuable to the designers who do
the redesigns? Definitely.

------
reneherse
Nothing like poking a hornet's nest hoping to get some smart-ass to redesign
your own site for you. Wish I'd thought of that ;)

------
nhangen
Bah. Might as well tell the kids to get off your lawn or say you're taking
your ball and going home.

Athletes practice athletics, bodybuilders lift weights, hackers hack, and
designers design. Just because you don't like the medium doesn't mean their
isn't value in the practice, even if it has nothing to do with design.

------
sprobertson
I disagree. Unsolicited redesigns are a great learning resource for wannabe
designers such as myself. For one, the good redesigners often offer several
concrete tips about good design, of course backed with visual proof. Even the
amateur redesigners are usually at least presenting some alternative ways to
imagine the interface. I doubt they're doing it so that the design is
implemented by the companies, that's not necessarily the point of designing
something.

------
happywolf
I find this piece is as unsolicited as the redesigns that the author rants
about. If you don't like something, then just ignore it and go read other
stuff.

------
TallboyOne
Really... why should this upset you? People practicing their design and doing
something they love. This makes you sound really jaded, and kind of a twat.

------
jonsterling
Seems like it's usually just losers trying to get attention so someone will
hire them. Sort of embarrassing.

~~~
chris_wot
Hardly. There are plenty of redesigns quoted in the article itself that were
worthy of looking into. There's nothing embarrassing about doing a redesign.

I'm not a designer, but it occurs to me that by doing a redesign, this is how
designers debate and discuss elements and aspects of design!

