How did you get into UI design?

I first became interested in graphic design in high school thanks to a wonderful visual communications teacher. At that time I was fortunate enough to meet several friends who were also into design and development and we began learning the web design craft together. We eventually formed a company called silverorange, which developed into a top notch design and development shop.

What is it you like about UI design?

Undoubtedly, the thing that most excites me about interface design is the immediate connection with real people and their activities. It's really incredible to be able to directly influence the way people interact with a system and particularly with each other when you're designing a social-based system like Digg or Pownce.

What are the core principles of UI design you use in your daily work?

Josh Porter made a presentation a few weeks ago that contained an explanation of the Shaker design philosophy – "Don't make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful." I think this perfectly matches my approach to interface design.

What's the average percentage of users who dislike the new design has to be in order for designer to change it? In case of Digg redesign, how many users disliked the new design?

I don't think there is any way to create a general rule for every website and I doubt it is even possible to generalize on a single site of any size. There are many factors that must be weighed when you're handling user feedback and all critical feedback is not created equal. People are more passionate about some issues than others, large numbers of vocal people aren't necessarily representative of your audience as a whole, and critical feedback often is almost always more nuanced than ‘I hate it.'

If one were to generalize, I'd emphasize reliance on more reliable data than explicit user feedback. Tracking the implicit feedback of your user-base – what they are actually doing as opposed to what they're saying – is a more reliable guide for you to react to.

What are the typical mistakes UI designers encounter and how to avoid them?

One of the most important attributes of a good designer is the ability to choose and design great default behaviors. Unfortunately, some user interfaces are designed with a myriad of options for customization, but the defaults aren't so hot. The Mozilla Suite (aka Seamonkey) was a great example of this – it tried to incorporate every feature and let you choose how to run it, but Firefox completely supplanted it by providing a lean, simple default UI.

How does your design process flow? What was the list of problems to solve when redesigning Digg?

I usually get involved in projects at Digg and Pownce from the brainstorming phase right through development. First we determine what the heck we're building and how we'll know if we succeeded when we're done. Then, I whiteboard some concepts before moving into Photoshop. I usually develop quite realistic concepts in Photoshop and then mark it up in XHTML and CSS, then I work with the developers on implementation details.

Digg has been a three-year-long project thus far, so it's a bit difficult to answer the second part of your question.

How important is teamwork in projects such as Digg or Pownce?

Short answer: it's incredibly important. Design can't or shouldn't exist as an independent part of an organization.

Would you give a couple of examples of UI design masterpieces?

I think Facebook is a fantastic design. Aaron, Matt, and the other designers there have developed a great visual language that is incorporated all over their site. They're really breaking a lot of ground in developing interfaces for online applications. The UI that Jason Santa Maria and his team put together for A List Apart is also stellar. It perfectly follows the Shaker principles I quoted earlier – the content drives the design but it also became beautiful.

What advice would you give to beginning UI designers?

I'd encourage beginning UI designers to find or make some friends with similar interests and philosophies. You'll progress so much faster and with more confidence when you have people who can critique your work and who can push you.

Thanks, Daniel, for a great interview!

Helen Walker

Helen Walker graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and Sociology. She worked as a newspaper journalist for two years after that. Having always been interested in cyberculture and its impact on society, Helen switched to online journalism and joined Design Interviews blog in July, 2007. Ever since she's been interviewing web designers and administrating the blog. Helen is a keen movie-goer and she is also a panda lover.


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Get in touch with Helen: helen.walker4@gmail.com