Being the Head of Web Services isn’t All Tech

So of people might forget from reading my blog that web design isn’t all about tech. In fact, some days for me are very low tech or no tech oriented. Thursday and Friday of this week were like that because we are working on a header/banner for the Libraries website face lift.

In many respects this is “graphic design” aspect of my job is the part that terrifies me the most. One, I freely admit, I’m not a graphics designer. So my skills at creating such things are limited. However, I have a good idea of what works and what doesn’ t from a usability, accessibility and technical design standpoint.
Two, there is my dad’s saying about opinions (I’m too polite to post here in full), the gist of which is that everyone’s got one. Please understand that I’m not denegrating people’s opinions on the matter of design. In fact, I want them. The problem is trying to build consensus from a group of people can give me a migraine headache. The chances of that increases proportionally to the number of people I’m are trying to get consensus from.

So you now understand why I said that Thursday and Friday were low tech/no tech days. Most of these days were spent sending our example and gathering and analyzing feedback for the meeting. Its amazing how much these design discussions stress me out. So much so that I went to the gym for an hour plus each day to compensate. The good thing is that the stress is worthwhile because my committee is moving in a very positive direction on the issue. We have consensus on some issues and action items to act on, which are powerful steps toward completing this piece of the redesign process.

Frankly, I should complement my group whose feedback was sharp, clear and concise. This design process has been less frustrating than my previous experiences where the feedback was less useful.

Former collegue concerning a design (FC) – I don’t like it. Its ugly.
Me – Is there something in particular you don’t like, the colors, one of the pictures. Is it too busy?
FC – It isn’t what I was thinking. I like our old site better.

I’ve slightly exagerrated the above conversation to give you an idea of the kind of feedback that’s NOT useful. When someone asks you your opinion of a design, be specific in both your complements and criticism. The reason is that in trying to get a consensus-based design, you need feedback for modifications. Comments like I like the font of the text, or the text is too small to read is good. So are I like photo A because … or I think the design looks busy or unbalanced. Specific praise and criticism gives designers ideas for improving the product.

For those doing web design, and trying to lead this discussion, I have a few pieces of advice as well.

1. Start with several designs and get feedback on each
2. Remember to ask people both what they like about the design and what they don’t like.
3. Get them to be specific. If they won’t, ask them about different aspects of the design: colors, positioning of elements, font of text, etc.
4. Use the feedback to make successive designs and narrow the choices down
5. Remind people of the more technical concerns such as how does this render at different screen resolutions and accessibility concerns. (One of my committee members is color blind so he keeps me from making those mistakes.)

Overall, remember to take the time you need to deal with any stress and frustration so that you can participate effectively in design discussions. Keep discussions as positive and constructive, as possible. Don’t forget that this is a process that takes time. Hold on, keep moving, and you’ll get through it.