
How Important Is Visual Design? - a_pawlowski
Coming from a background of design, I could argue all day about the importance of great design. Whole companies have gained their competitive advantage, not because their product was better, but because their design was (scan.me who sold for 50mil - https:&#x2F;&#x2F;siliconslopes.com&#x2F;snapchat-buys-scan-me-for-50-million-a6d89221c2e6) . Design adds credibility and creates joy when using a product. I believe that companies who care about the design of their products, website, marketing materials, etc are taken more seriously and stand out among competitors - YET - I have seen over and over again the ugliest sites be massively popular and effective (reddit, hackernews) internet marketing funnels with design that would give any designer a conniption - yet they are highly profitable and convert like crazy. So my question is - How important is design, really? Curious to know how you feel.
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PaulHoule
Often designers put their hearts into things that look like junk to people on
the outside, or otherwise are not appreciated or have practical downsides.
This is particularly well documented in architecture, see

[https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/learning-las-
vegas](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/learning-las-vegas)

[https://www.amazon.com/Death-Life-Great-American-
Cities/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Death-Life-Great-American-
Cities/dp/067974195X)

and also

[https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-
Informati...](https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-
Information/dp/1930824130)

I think there is nothing wrong with the "design" of reddit and HN. Those
designs do the job; I think in most cases the design is just a container for
the content. People come to these sites because they want to enjoy the
discussion, not because they want to enjoy art.

If anybody has a complaint about the design of HN, it is that they have a hard
time reading it on phones with small screens.

