Design Details: Important Or Not?

When it comes to web development, there is a fine line between worrying too much about details and not worrying about them enough.

For many people, it's easy to obsess over minor issues. They get caught up in making their site "perfect," even though the details under consideration don't make much difference to the success of the site.

For instance, it's easy to spend a lot of time analyzing whether the logo looks perfect, the font is just the right size, or the color of a particular button is bright enough.

Although it is important to think through all of those things, there is a point when those details become unimportant. Often, obsessing over them won't significantly impact a visitor's experience on the site. The time spent analyzing these issues simply costs money and delays the site from being launched.

On the other hand, many people don't pay attention to details that ARE critical. In the past few months, I've worked with several clients who fit in this category. They were content to brush past some seemingly minor issues that were actually very significant.

For example, I had one client who was unconcerned that his navigation was difficult to understand. He liked the look of his site and didn't want to change it. He thought visitors could figure out his navigation, so he chose not to worry about it. In this case, the visitors were hurt by the lack of attention to detail. It may have seemed like a minor issue, but it had a significant impact on the usability of the site.

There are many other situations where the details are equally important. In fact, sometimes changing a single sentence or other seemingly miniscule point can drastically affect how many of your visitors convert to buyers.

So how much is good enough? In other words, how do you know when you're just obsessing and when the details truly are important?

Website Checklist

There's a simple rule of thumb to go by: Evaluate your motivation. Are you concerned about a particular detail because you think it affects your visitors or because you just don't like it? And vice versa: Are you ignoring a detail because you really don't think it matters to visitors or because you simply don't want to deal with it?

Whenever you find yourself confronted with an issue, decide whether it's going to affect your visitor or not. If you can think of a concrete reason why the issue will impact visitors' ability to use your site, it's important. If you can't think of a real reason, it's probably best to drop it. Don't waste your time.

For example, suppose you have buttery yellow buttons on your site, and you're analyzing whether or not they should be fire engine red. If it's not going to make a practical difference, move on to the next issue.

On the other hand, if you realize that your buttons need to be highly visible and you don't want to risk that they might be overlooked, change the color. In this case, red would be better because it will stand out more. Therefore, you've identified something that will impact your visitors: They need to be able to see the buttons, and changing the color will help them do it.

As a related issue, think about why you want to ignore some issues. Check yourself to make sure you're not being lazy on an issue that needs to be addressed. Also, never put your preferences in front of the needs of your visitor. Don't make choices based on what you think looks nice. Always make choices based on how a visitor will need to use your site.

Keep your ears tuned for feedback on your site. If you ever hear someone say, "This is hard to use," pay attention. Those are the kind of details you need to deal with.

DON'T obsess over things that don't make a difference. DO zero in on anything that will impact a visitor's experience at your site.

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