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Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

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Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#21

Post by corkill »

People make decisions based on whats in it for them.

Not oh this website looks great so I will buy from that company. Sames thing with logos, people think oh I need a great logo, no you don't you need a great product (offer).

Most businesses can just grab a $30 template from themeforest, that more than covers the design part of their website needs.

I used to custom design websites, I know it definitely was not adding any value to my customers businesses.

Of course for some audiences design is super important and of course usability for web apps etc. I think it can help build trust and get people to stay for a few more seconds to check out your site if they are browsing.

But your average small business, two people care about the design, the business owner and the web designer.

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#23

Post by access_denied »

> website helps define a companies image

Let me say this as a designer by trade: yes, we learned this thing with the image. But why is images important? Because the classical agencies from Madison Avenue are selling i"imgae" to BigCo. That is why they teach the design students to create "image" and how "image" works and that "image" is important.

For a typical small business however, "image" is another thing.

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#24

Post by piotr_krzyzek »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #19

If you were dying of thirst in a desert would the style of the canteen matter when you were offered water? Businesses concentrate on providing water to thirsty people, i.e., find something that people want and provide it to them. If they want it enough, nothing much else matters. This is the goal. Artists concentrate on providing visual joy and passion in the world. Make people enjoy things they normally might not. F…

"to what degree should I apply aesthetics to prevent losing potential customers." ... that is a very good question indeed to ask one-self.

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#25

Post by piotr_krzyzek »

kitcar wrote: post #11

This is one of those questions where human psychology is the predominant factor driving decisions. Many managers look at the cost differential of hiring a high-end designer versus getting their back end dev to mock something up, and ask themselves "Will I get another $X,XXX amount of business in return for this investment?" Depending on their personality, they will then answer "yes" or "no", and act accordingly. The…

This is the core of my question and puzzle. As a consultant, I can see the 'image' value for the company. Let's say Company X is currently making 1M in clean profit, and their overall image is low-end (business cards are cheap, website is cheap, their trucks are dirty and cheap); then I'm of the opinion that they are a cheap, low end company. I'm guessing most businesses do NOT want to be seen the low end type. My assumption is that many companies want to be see as equals or better than their competitors ... So wouldn't it stand to reason that a better brand image would equate to dollars in the bank further down the line?

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#26

Post by billpatrianakos »

patio11 wrote: post #13

There are many roads to the cheese. Cold calling, for example, works. I've never done it and if I suggested it to my (very successful) clients they'd laugh in my face, but it is an enormous business. A lot of businesses can get away with terrible websites for the same reason I can get away with terrible business cards: 99.8% of the business is elsewhere. If you're Nobu your website could be done by a 4th grader in Fl…

I waffle back and forth between agreeing with you and disagreeing with you as I've asked myself that same question time and time again. Right now I agree with the one caveat being that awful design can only pass when the information presented is well organized and easily found. I've seen designers changing tens of thousands for sites that look like they were built using a 90's style WYSIWYG editor measurably boost business because everything was easily found and understood despite how cheesy it looks. On the other end of the spectrum I've seen the same expensive design place so much emphasis on cool effects and be such an exercise in vanity for the designer the business got nothing from the site.

I disagree that designers place too much importance on what they do. Design is very important. The mistake designers make is not knowing when it's important. They just want to design everything whether it's necessary or not. I was going to put an analogy here but I lost my train of thought.

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#27

Post by piotr_krzyzek »

underwater wrote: post #18

As a counterpoint to commenters who are going with their gut instinct, see the blog post by patio11 about redesigning Bingo Card Creator http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/04/19/ab-testing-is-frustratin... . He found that a new design did increase trial sign ups but did not increase sales.

I remember this one. The problem is the statement and his design is that it also changed his sales funnel. There was too much of a change to tell exactly where things fell apart or why specifically sales did not increase. Was it the initial offer? The middle? The actual offering? ect ect ...

I agree with this assessment that new/better designs don't always increase sales, though I believe (should he ever choose to pursue it more, though I don't think he will) he'll need to do a lot of split testing on the new design to optimize it like he did on his old design.

Plus, with the new design comes an increased brand image/presence which will help him in the long run.

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#28

Post by paolomaffei »

It's just a part of the "will the company survive" question.

How they behave is another part, competition is another, product quality is yet another... is you're doing great on these 3 and have much more sales than you can manage, why bother with a new website?

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#29

Post by paolomaffei »

MehdiEG wrote: post #17
brokentone wrote: post #3

I've worked with companies with terrible websites in the past, either to give them a new website or to fix existing components while keeping my eyes closed... I think there are a few reasons here. However, your actual question? No idea, I would love to see some stats, but I doubt it can be quantified that well (see point 3). 1. Someone in the executives actually likes the site the way it is. These are business people…

"1. Someone in the executives actually likes the site the way it is." That one is probably the main reason why companies stick with awful-looking websites. I'll never cease to be amazed at how many people have no design sense or eye whatsoever and genuinely cannot see the difference between an absolutely horrendous-looking logo or page and a well designed one. In fact, not only can they not see the difference but I o…

if they also sell to people that think those flyers are amazing then is it really a problem for them?

Re: Ask HN: Do quality web graphics, design and layout actually help businesses?

#30

Post by oemera »

Really good question. I have I asked this question to myself a lot of times when I actually buy things or when I'm looking for a service I could use.

From my experience I can definitely say that I never bought something because it looked good. But when I had two alternatives and one looked better than the other I catched myself tending to the better looking service which was not always the best service provider. A company which has what I need and has also a great design / UX gets a big plus point.

But what I also learned is that a good structured site with intuitive navigation is really good makes really solid impression. By intuitive I mean guessing where you could find informations you are looking for. For example documentation of the API they are providing.

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