David Herrold

Design intuition and serendipity

Posted by Dave | Filed under Design, Google, Web design

Douglas Bowman, the visual design lead at Google, recently left his post to pursue greener pastures. In a farewell blog post, he cited a profound reason for leaving (emphasis mine). You can read the entire post here.

Yes, it’s true that a team at Google couldn’t decide between two blues, so they’re testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can’t operate in an environment like that. I’ve grown tired of debating such minuscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.

From an engineering perspective, testing multiple colors, recording outcomes and making sound empirical judgments makes all the sense in the world.  If this is done correctly, eventually you will end up with the most effective design implemented.

However, from a design perspective, this tactic may be lacking some things the design world relies upon on a regular basis.

Intuition

Like master mechanics who are able to diagnose many car problems by simply listening to the engine, seasoned designers can solve web design problems in a similar fashion.  They can look at an obstacle or task and solve it almost instinctively.

They could, of course, perform user experience testing to dissect the problem and solve it in a very methodical way.  However, accumulated years of design experience give them an almost intuitive knowledge to see the most effective solution without much testing at all.

Serendipity

These are the beautiful accidents that designers stumble upon when looking for something else.  They may be attempting to solve a complicated navigation issue and stumble upon a great idea for handling web forms.

The world of technology and invention is rife with happy accidents that have created new products or changed humanity in some significant way.  A vital part of the creative process is lost when designers are forced to operate in a rigid environment that relies heavily upon empirical engineering data.

Could these happy accidents still occur in an environment like this?  Probably…

However, I think it is much less likely to happen.  And when it does happen, it is more likely to be ignored because the idea has not gone through the rigors of testing yet.  Or perhaps the idea was so different it didn’t get the consideration it deserves.

Google was built by engineers and has become the largest property on the internet due to the policies and guidance from these early engineers.  It would be silly to say their method of design doesn’t work.  However, this environment might not work for everyone…especially creative people who need to challenge themselves with big ideas and sweeping changes.

So, designers, what do you think?

Tags: Design, Google, intuition, serendipity, user experience, user testing, Web design

Paper prototyping

Posted by Dave | Filed under Design, Usability, Web design

When I first started exploring web design and journalism nearly 10 years ago I thought paper prototyping was silly.  Paper…really?  Web design was beyond paper, I scoffed.  I used the cutting-edge design tools like Photoshop 5 that actually let me edit text on the page (a huge upgrade from Photoshop 4 that featured a quaint-but-clunky text editing panel).

Who needs paper when you can push pixels on the screen, right?

Well, it took a few years to sink in, but I have since changed my mind.  I rediscovered paper several years ago and now find it much easier to sketch concepts and ideas in a notebook.  Nothing beats paper for speed.  I can flip open a notebook and jot down an idea much faster than using a computer or PDA.

Don’t get me wrong, I love computers and gadgets as much as (if not more than) the next guy.  But paper still rules the initial stages of design for me.

Why do I bring this up?  I found some great early-stage paper prototypes on Flickr recently.  You will probably recognize a few of them.  Several of them are now extremely popular, with millions of users each month.

For me, seeing these sketches is like seeing the notes of a mad scientist after he’s built a giant robot or a glimpse into a wizard’s magical tome.  They probably didn’t realize these hand-scrawled sketches would eventually turn out to be blueprints for success.  Hope you enjoy them.

Prototypes:

Photo of Jack Dorsey’s original sketches of Twitter (Stat.us).
Dan Catt’s original sketches of Flickr Places.
Sockyung Hong’s sketch for Vimeo profile pages.
Beth Goldman’s sketches of several Quicken screens.

Notebooks:

Large plain Moleskine reporter. (my favorite).
Pocket ruled Moleskine notebook. (great for travel).

Tags: moleskine, notebooks, paper prototyping, prototype, Web design

Headed to BarCampNOLA

Posted by Dave | Filed under Design, Development, Marketing, Networking, Technology, Web design

Looks like I’m headed to New Orleans for BarCampNOLA in a couple of weeks. I missed BarCampHouston & BarCampTexas recently due to scheduling conflicts and my general chaotic schedule at work.

Since NOLA is a fun place in general, I’ve convinced the missus to join me. I have a feeling she will be doing more shopping than BarCamping, but I’m just glad she’s coming along regardless.

It looks like the campers will be helping a local business with the power of technology. I assume this will involve legions of man-servant robots and rocket-powered jetpacks. More likely it will involve a handful of programmers and a few laptops. I suspect Twitter will be involved somehow too.

The most popular Steve I know will also be attending (I think).

Looking forward to some beignets and a cup of chicory coffee…and finding a room in the French Quarter for under $250 a night. Yikes.

- Dave

Tags: barcamp, barcampnola, french quarter, Networking, social media, Technology, Web design

Startup weekend 2008

Posted by Dave | Filed under Design, Development, Marketing, Software, Technology, Web design

What is Startup weekend you might ask? Well according to the website Startup weekend is:

“an intense 54 hour event bringing together brilliant tech minds (developers, designers, marketers, ect.) together to create a company from concept to launch!”

We Houstonians have the opportunity to bring Startup Weekend to Texas by voting on the Startup weekend website. Austin and Dallas are both listed as potential cities for the next event (I voted for Austin because I think it might be a little more fun than Dallas).

Vote here | Read more about Startup Weekend | Subscribe to Startup weekend RSS

Tags: Design, Software, start up weekend, startup weekend, technology conferences, Web design, web development

SXSW 2008

Posted by Dave | Filed under Design, Marketing, Technology, Usability, Web design

I’m officially registered along with Steve and Lina at the Chronicle.  I’m looking forward to meeting some great people and exchanging some great ideas at the conference.

Drop me a line if you plan on attending.  I think it’ll be a blast.

Tags: conference, interactive, SXSW, Technology, Usability, Web design

Coda now Leopardized*

Posted by Dave | Filed under Software, Usability, Web design

Coda has released an update (v1.1) to further trick-out the Leopardization of the application. I’ve been using Coda for several months now to manage a few blogs and work on minor design projects. To make a long story short, Coda a fantastically intuitive web design & development application that manages to cram several tools (text editor, terminal window, FTP, CSS WYSIWYG) into one easy-to-use package.

I’ve been hesitant to update my Mac to OSX 1.5 (Leopard), until Coda has been updated to work smoothly on Leopard.

It looks like I’m officially cleared for take-off.

You can download Coda for a free 30-day test drive. Right now, it only works on Macs.

(FYI – I am not affiliated with the company in any way, I just think it’s a great product.)

* Yes, I made up this word, but it makes sense, doesn’t it?

Tags: Apple, coda, leopard, mac, Web design