

Ask HN: Does the website design matter? - Ardit20

One of my friends said that he does not care what a site looks like as long as it has what he needs. I have been designing and redesigning mine to make it look well good and I am just wondering whether I should bother at all.
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jonny_noog
Others have mentioned that there are different definitions of what "design"
means, but I will assume you're talking primarily about visual/graphic design
more so than the other ways the word is used.

As designers/developers or creative people in general, it's natural to think
of our creations as art, they are.

But when it comes to art that has a concrete function, like websites, I find
it helps me to remember that the average user will not be coming to a website
I build for the sole purpose of marvelling at that lovely gradient that I made
or that Ajax UI element that took me hours to put together. They're coming to
the site to use a service or obtain information. That's all they're really
interested in.

I'm not trying to say that the prettiness of the site doesn't matter, it does
(for some sites more than others). But it's secondary to making sure the site
is usable/accessible, making sure the visual design doesn't get in the way of
what your users are trying to do. I'd also include in this making sure the
design conveys the image you're tying to get across. That's part of the design
not getting in your users way.

Users by and large will not squint at your visual design like you do and
critique it in anywhere near as much detail as you might.

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pedalpete
I think the term 'design' can be misleading as it has a few connotations. If
you think craigslist or drudge report, you can say design doesn't matter
because, they are ugly sites. But there are lots of sights that have nice
colors and images but aren't usable.

I couldn't find a link to your site, so I can't figure out where you fit in.

For design, go usable first, then dress it up. like building a house,
foundation, make sure the door is in the right place, you've got a nice
driveway, etc. Get a site people can look at. Then add the layers of 'design'.

Take a look at apple.com (the mac page is probably better than the home page
for a comparison <http://apple.com/mac>). As usual via their minimalism, there
is a ton of design, but you almost want to click on stuff. Compare it to
linux.com, less enticing, then try microsoft.com.

I personally fall victim to overloading people with content, and not giving
enough direction. Less is often more.

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mcotton
It matters a lot to me. I often hit the back button within 3 seconds of the
page loading. The information needs to be cleanly presented and the site needs
to look credible.

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aberman
If design is tantamount to usability, it is the second most important aspect
of your site (behind functionality, in my opinion). If design = drop shadows
and rounded corners, I would put it on the bottom of my priority list.

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shortformblog
If you look sketchy, why should I trust you? Your friend can use Lynx if he
doesn't care about Web design.

~~~
lsc
huh. see, I am always more suspicious of people who put more effort into
appearance. I mean, if you show up to a programming interview in a suit, my
first impression is that you are trying to distract me from things that matter
with your appearance.

But yeah, that's taste, and varies based on who your customers are.
Functionality matters to everyone.

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mixmax
I matters much more than you think.

~~~
Ardit20
but, surely if the site has what the person wants, what the site looks like
doesn't matter?

~~~
mixmax
Well, yes it does.

\- Assuming it's the first time someone visits the site, he has to know that
what he wants is to be found there. That requires design.

\- Someone new to your site will give it roughly 1 second before he decides
whether it is any good or not. I'm not making this up, it's been proved in
many studies. Taht's design.

\- If you're selling something, physical bits or thoughts, you need to convey
trust in what you're selling. That's design.

Not that when I talk about design here I'm not so much talking about nice
colors and fancy gif's but more about things like overall style, usability,
etc.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
To add to what max is saying, I've read that we think of sites as a kind of
book that the user is going to take their time reading. So we fill them up
with directories, gizmos, lots of information. We assume an information-dense
page is worth more than a sparse page.

In actuality, web sites are much more like billboards that people pass by on
the highway. If you get 1 or 2 seconds of quality interaction time, you're
ahead of the game.

I've heard of designers literally squinting their eyes and walking by a
monitor quickly to test what kind of impression the site has on the new
viewer. For most sites, it's not so good.

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lsc
look at myspace. I mean, design matters in the sense that you need to be able
to do what your users want to do, but no, rounded edges don't matter.

