Written by
Helena Dang
If I could time travel, I would go back and find baby designer Helena. I would buy her a coffee and tell her these three things. Then I would leave before she argues with me, because she would.
1. Pixel-perfect isn’t always business-perfect
I used to obsess over every pixel. I thought perfection was the same as impact. Reality check: nobody noticed that 2px adjustment. Everybody noticed the product shipped late.
These days I ask one question before I polish anything: will a user feel this? If yes, I polish. If I’m the only person who will ever notice, it goes on the “later” list. The later list is very long. That’s fine.
2. Your first idea is usually the worst one
I used to get attached to my first design like it was my child. But let’s be honest, early ideas are usually trash. Not because you’re bad at this, but because you don’t know enough about the problem yet.
Now I try to make a few rough versions fast, test them, and let the data do the talking instead of my ego. My ego has questionable taste anyway.
3. Stakeholders don’t hate your designs. They just have goals.
Ever spent hours on a chef’s kiss design, only to hear “Can we make the button bigger?” (Screams internally.)
It took me a while to get that they’re not against me. They have targets, deadlines and a boss asking them questions too. When I started asking “what are you worried about?” instead of defending my button size, the conversations got so much easier. Sometimes the button really does need to be bigger. Sometimes there’s a better fix, and they’re happy to hear it.
The short version
Talk less about design. Listen more to problems. The best design isn’t the prettiest one. It’s the one that solves the right problem.
What’s the lesson you wish you knew earlier? Tell me, I’m collecting them.
