A design isn't finished until somebody is using it. ~ Brenda Laurel
Design is where science and art break even. ~ Robin Mathew
These are just two of the many quotes on design, and they all try to make a point: design isn't just "design."
There's more to it.
Say the word "design" today and you'd think websites. At best, you'd think graphics. Of course, there's product design, interior design, and many other forms of design but we'll stick to digital forms for the purposes of this post.
Good design isn't just in the art galleries; it is everywhere, as the folks at
Build Blog attest to. For digital marketers and business owners looking to embrace the web's potential, design might just be about websites: the layouts, the UX/UI, the colors, and the various elements that go into it.
But even that kind of design has evolved: At first, it was about HTML pages. Then we got embedded objects and flash. More recently, responsive design came along. Slowly, mobile design took center stage, and now the focus is on people. (Did we just come full circle?)
Today, it's not mobile, websites, or design itself; it's about the customer. It was always the customer. We took a while – and a lifetime of Internet usage – to arrive at that simple realization.
Natasha Hritzuk is Microsoft's senior director of global insights and the co-author of Multi-screen Marketing: The Secen Things You Need to Know to Reach Your Customers across TVs, Computers, Tablets and Mobile Phones.
In an interview with Amy Gesenhues of Marketing Land she insists on marketers to take a holistic approach to marketing.
So, what's the fuss about design? If it's not about websites, what's it about? From a digital marketing perspective, it's about these:
Good design is about respecting customers
If users have to pinch, zoom, squint, and click more than twice to get at anything on your website, you've just put up a horrendous website. You are shamelessly making users go through hoops to get to something that should have been just a click away.
Do you see where the "respect" part wedges itself into design? Good design respects end users. Simplicity and attention to detail sit at the core of good design. Utility takes a new meaning (and will change as web access points grow) and navigation becomes standard.
Don't make customers work hard to get to you. In case you haven't realized, it's already hard to get customers, even online.
Responsive design is only the beginning
Don't get hung up on responsive design. Of course, it's important that your website fits nice and square on any device it's displayed on. You already know that, don't you?
It's not just websites that have to go responsive. Email marketing demands
responsive email design, and is already getting it. So are paid advertisements. Meanwhile, social networks are already mobile-friendly.
This is today, but the future is already set up. There are wearable devices and pretty soon we'll have screens in the air, which will whip up visuals, video and text from gestures and brain signals, for all we know.
Responsive design addresses a current need to be customer friendly. You come back to the "customer" more often than you care about.
The meaning of design just got extended
It's really not about the design of web elements anymore. So, in effect, it's not about a website, a landing page, a thank you page, or any other page you put up. It's about how each of these elements relate to the others.
How do your social media buttons on the website link to your social accounts? What shows up on the top of your home page? Where is the opt-in form I was looking for?
If you thought that "Hello bar" was great for conversions, what happens when the site is displayed on a mobile device? What'd happen if you add another bar near the footer area?
Anything you do, or don't, will affect your primary goal. Additional bars on footers could destroy mobile experience. Social media buttons sliding to the right might block the entire site when viewed on a mobile phone.
Design is about getting it all together
As far as digital marketing is concerned, good design requires you to manage your customers' multiple touch points on the web.
Starting from responsive web design to how your emails look, and from how your opt-in forms work to what's visible on your social accounts.
Marketing automation helps in getting your act together and takes a bit of that hard work away, but even automation requires planning, strategy, and effort.
Good design is understanding of your customers' plight
No one gets up one fine morning hoping to get into someone's marketing funnel.
Your customers are a hassled lot. They are bombarded with tons of messages, information, and choices. Plus they have their own insecurities and worries to boot. Good design brings marketing, technology, and a bit of our own conscience. It demands that we sympathize with our customers' pain and make purchasing easy on them.
To wrap up
In summary, here's what good design is about:
- It's not about websites, it's about user experience.
- It's about being ready for what's in demand. Today, it's responsive design. Is tomorrow about wearable compatibility?
- Design extends its reach into making for customers. It's about paving the roads to easy business. It's about bringing information, solutions, and products into their hands.
- Good design brings technology and marketing together. It brings intent and utility to the same platform. It connects things for you as a business, and for your customer who is looking for solutions to her problems.
- Finally, it's about being nice. Make way for some basic courtesy. Let your customers determine whether they want to do business with you.
What do you think good design is about? Do you agree that it's about customer experience today and not so much about mobile design, website design, and other such things we tend to worry so much about?
About Guest Blogger
Lori Wagoner is an independent content strategist who gives online marketing advice to small businesses. Lori has blogged at Tweak Your Biz, The Social Media Hat and many other business and tech blogs. You can reach her @LoriDWagoner on Twitter.
