Interview by Adriana de Barros and Nuno Martins

• Jump to: Jordan Nielsen Weinman Mullenweg Finck Purgason Sodaplay WWFT

Eric Jordan:
Just as before it all comes down to communication. The interesting thing at 2Advanced is we all respect what everyone else does to the greatest degree because we sit down and talk about it. We express ourselves and are able to justify how we feel. The developers can completely see the merit of design in every project just as the designers can see the merit of intelligent functionality. The key is sitting down and talking about how to put it all together to make the best of both worlds happens so that everyone is happy. It seems like a very simple concept, but more often than not studios simply have a problem of internal communication between disciplines.

Jakob Nielsen:
I believe that all Web projects above a certain size should be multi-disciplinary. Sites need to look good, and even though it's not my personal expertise, I recognize that it's necessary, so I always recommend including a good visual designer on a team. Similarly, the backend needs to work: if the site crashes or says that products are out of stock when they are not, then it doesn't matter how good the site looks, it won't sell anything. Also, the writing needs to be good, and there are several other skills that should be represented on the project team, in addition to visuals, writing, and engineering. You can't really say that any one of these should drive the design, because the total user experience is comprised of all of them. Only when the different elements of the site are well integrated and work together do you get optimal usability. I refer to my answer to the previous question: let customer needs drive these decisions and create the balance between your different disciplines based on what works in user testing.
[ top ]

Lynda Weinman:
To me, it means that no matter how beautiful something is, if it doesn’t function as promised, it has failed.

Matt Mullenweg:
I think I answered this in the last question:

I think more developers should study visual design. Robin Williams has a few good books on basic design principles and typography. You can get 80% to a great interface with no visual design skills at all, if you think about the user every step of the way and follow a handful of rules. Let designers focus on the last 20% where they can really shine.

Nick Finck:
I think I jumped the gun on my last question... but the point still stands. Form comes second to function, but you shouldn't have function without form or form without function. The two go hand in hand. I think designers who get all upset about this famous quote are the ones who are not clearly reading the full thing... they see something and react to it, instead of hearing the person out first, getting the full story and then responding in a professional manner.

Todd Purgason:
Form evolves from function and sometimes the form will be crap because that is the necessary function. Sometimes the form is very straight forward and other times the form so overpowers the function that you don’t even perceive function. Designers have knowledge and strengths that developers don’t even perceive the nuances of, and Designers often do not respect the knowledge and perspective of developers. People that polarize like this are very foolish. A wise person realizes his weaknesses and the strengths of others and allows for group driven solutions drawn out of many perspectives and approaches, that will often lead to more fruitful solutions. But at the same time design by committee can erode the edge of a creative process leaving it marginalized and ineffective. So work together but also do not ignore your instincts and guard the purity of an idea.

Sodaplay:
That successful projects encompass many disciplines working together to achieve a goal as a whole.

[ top ]

WeWorkForThem:
I think when you work within functional guidelines, your work has the chance of really becoming visually and functionally exciting (ipod?). A lot of people complain that the function is messing with the form and this could be possible. Most of the time I think there is a solution to the functional problem or a happy fix. I like to think function (restrictions or framework) can help create beautiful form (art or design).