Sep 25 2008
I recently read a comment online by someone who said they've learned that in the realm of websites, graphics are second to functionality and compelling nature. But I think that that's a simplification of things.
More specifically, I think this person has gotten "design" and "graphics" completely confused. They are not the same thing.
I'll be honest, functionality is key online. A site can be beautifully designed but if it doesn't work, people will stop visiting. But the reverse is also true.
A site can be 100% functional but if the design fails (and there are a number of reasons why it could), people will stop visiting that site too.
The point is that the 2 are not exclusive of one another. In fact, you can't really have one without the other. The problem is that people confuse design with decoration.
Decoration is just that - graphics that make things look "pretty" and artsy and whatever other adjectives you want to insert here. Design has a loftier goal. Design is meant to communicate (and in the arena of business, communication will likely be "compelling").
Yes, design can be decorative, but the end goal is to get a message across. That message may be that your company is the best somehow, or that the visitor needs to click on some link. Or, on a simpler level, design can simply be functional in the sense that it's there just enough to present a user with an intuitive interface to make it easy to get from one point to another.
I've quoted him before, and I'm just doing it again here, but I really do think Steve Jobs put it best:
Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.