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UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

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Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#201

Post by mgkimsal »

oftenwrong wrote: post #127
pembrook wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coders can only code, so that's what they do. Even if there's no new features needed or the old software is working fine as is, they will keep refactoring. Gotta keep up with the trends.

I'd agree. Given the opportunity, programmers will often work without regard to business needs. For example, rewriting an old codebase using their favourite new stack.

> For example, rewriting an old codebase using their favourite new stack.

Sometimes that is a business need, but the rest of the business doesn't recognize it (or won't until it's too late). Yes, having your website running on coldfusion 5 isn't actually a problem - data comes in, data goes out, orders are filled (ecommerce, for example). If the actual business needs didn't change ever... there would not be a need to ever refactor/rebuild.

And yes, I've seen "needless" refactoring, without regard for business needs. But there are folks who do understand some of the needs of the business before the other business units may realize it themselves.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#202

Post by AsyncAwait »

calinet6 wrote: post #13

> To preface the article, I primarily work on, and prefer, back-end code. I've been involved in both web and software development for over 4 years now Cool, cool. To preface this comment, I'm a user experience designer, and I've been doing web software development and design for over 20 years. In reality, your conjecture turns out to be largely untrue. Visual design quality does have an impact. Main principle you wan…

> Cool, cool. To preface this comment, I'm a user experience designer, and I've been doing web software development and design for over 20 years.

This seems like a call to seniority. Just because you've been there for X more years doesn't make your input automatically more valid. I get his disclaimer i.e. 'I am not a designer', but yours just feels a bit like bragging.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#203

Post by rexpop »

atoav wrote: post #100
mjburgess wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the flip side, you could see a person selling their labour as having some right/stake in doing something which interests them. These outcomes are then compromises which give something to the producer, as well as to the customer.

I completely agree. This is exactly why I said, if this happens you didn’t choose the right person for the job. The same person who butchers your UI might be very good for creating print designs that above all need to sell the company CI. For critical redesigns you need a designer who is mostly about analyzing and rethinking the user experience behind it. Better even, split it in two: one entity should only do the an…

> you didn’t choose the right person for the job

This is, however, the state of the entire economy, when organic individuals are cribbed into roles defined by firms with abstract goals. A good counterexample might be the Montessori system.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#204

Post by j45 »

normalhuman wrote: post #141
inertiatic wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>People aren't idiots. They don't do this work for no reason. Citation absolutely needed. In my experience people are frequently idiots, and work gets done for no reason after someone with authority is convinced that it's a good idea by someone aching to do that sort of work. If it happens in so many other cases, it does happen in UI/UX as well.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair

Very applicable in leadership and management in this time of disruption everywhere.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#207

Post by tootie »

calinet6 wrote: post #13

> To preface the article, I primarily work on, and prefer, back-end code. I've been involved in both web and software development for over 4 years now Cool, cool. To preface this comment, I'm a user experience designer, and I've been doing web software development and design for over 20 years. In reality, your conjecture turns out to be largely untrue. Visual design quality does have an impact. Main principle you wan…

Last place I worked did a skunkworks redesign project in their primary e-commerce site and A/B tested it against the existing site (which was perfectly decent) and recorded a consistently higher conversion rate. They could easily put an 8-figure value on the redesign which cost in the high 6-figures to design and implement.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time

#208

Post by ivanhoe »

Redesign is not just about visuals. If you change a few gradients/hues and add/remove rounded corners depending on the latest web fashion, then definitely you're wasting time and money - unfortunately, that's very common patter with companies, specially larger brands. However improving usability of the UI based on some actual metrics and research is definitely never a waste of time. In my experience absolutely every new app needs at least a few UX upgrades after some time, since it's impossible to get every detail of the UI design right from the first go.
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