Designers & Usability

Good Designers Who Know Usability Are REALLY Good Designers

I recently decided I needed a redesign of my personal web site wcraigtomlin.com and used the design services of a really good designer, Deborah Edwards-Onoro of Lireo Designs.

As is often the way with web redesign projects, my personal little web site redesign became something of a “project,” including all the usual issues such as scope creep (guilty), long delays by the client (guilty) then a sudden rush and pressure to get everything done ASAP with a modest amount of badgering (guilty, guilty and guilty).

As with other good designers, Deborah took it all in stride and demonstrated skills and patience that helped get the project accomplished in a very satisfactory manner. Most good designers pretty much know this comes with the turf, and do a pretty good job about handling such “problem” clients (like me).

However, I like the fact that Deborah also exhibits and understands the importance of applying usability to design. In my case, she used her knowledge of usability to produce a clean and simple user experience. As a side note, it’s also quite impressive that she’s actively involved in getting a new Michigan usability group together (now that’s REALLY believing in usability!).

Design & Usability

Designers have a tough job, and usability is not always top-of-mind among all designers. Add to this the pressure all designers face from “problem” clients (like me) as to critiquing design and you’ve got a extra handful of issues to deal with.

Let’s be honest, very few of us “clients” will critique or criticize CSS coding for example, but almost all of us will critique and criticize design colors, shapes and placements.

Humans, all of us, believe we “know” design and can judge between good and bad. Senior vice presidents of Finance, industrial cleaning product salesmen and even plumbers will offer free advice about a design they see, if offered a chance.

So it’s impressive when a designer will include the extra considerations of user experience issues as part of their process when developing a design. When this comes from a knowledge based on an understanding and appreciation of usability the design is going to be that much better. In my opinion this moves a designer from “good” to “really good,” because it means the designs will incorporate usability criteria to improve the user experience well before a web site is coded or goes live.

Really Good Designers

So it’s with gratitude that I say thanks to Deborah for all her work, she’s a really good designer. And if you are looking for a designer that includes usability as part of her process I suggest you contact Deborah.

And if for any reason Deborah can’t do the project (because she’s so busy with all the referrals I hope to send her way) then my suggestion is to seek other designers who take usability to heart. The end product these designers provide will mean far less re-work down the road, and an optimized web site that meets your business goals.