Design is in the Details by Bryan
June 23, 2008 in Implementation with 10 Comments
Moving from the tactical idea generation phase of design to implementation can leave some details left unchecked. Why? It's hard shifting from debating broad and loose concepts with a team to individually plugging away on task driven items. The implementation phase of any design project can be an isolating experience. It doesn't get the same peer review as the strategic and tactical phases of a project.
After staring at the Yahoo player, I realized that some of these implementation details were overlooked. At first glance the video tool bar seems fine- it's modern and relatively simple. As you begin to analyze the spacing, every element is slightly off. Icon alignment, spacing between buttons, left and right margins, and horizontal alignment are all tweaked.
Is it laziness on the designers part? Maybe. More than likely it's an oversight in the transition of broad ideas to refined implementation ready graphics.
10 Comments
Ryan says:
I'm going to go with laziness. Although, I am wondering if some of those details were screwed up by the Flash Rendering Engine. It can often miscalculate pixels and percentages as it scales the vector objects up and down to the appropriate size.
I think the part that is bothering me the most about this design is the two scrubber handles are inconsistent in width and shading. That detail makes me think it's laziness more than anything.
Jerome says:
It only takes one... I could see there was something not perfect about the capture you posted here, but what is interesting is how much more of my time I would spend looking into mistakes I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for that ONE. That mistake I did notice drew me in further looking for more, all the while eroding my confidence in the quality of the design.
Jessica says:
I notice a lot of times spacing is overlooked. Especially spacing around images. I see a lot of times someone will include an image on their site and have ZERO spacing between the image and the text. It drives me up a wall.
Mark says:
As a designer that obsesses over the finer details, these type of misjudgments are almost unforgivable. I can understand the urge and need to be scrappy, but why let those finer details slide when you're free and clear to spend the time on them?
Bryan says:
Ryan- I noticed the odd triangle shape on the first scrubber, but I didn't take note of the shadow until you highlighted it. The scrubbers could also use more clickable padding to make them easier to control. As for the scaling issues with the Flash Rendering Engine, it would be good to know if there are pixel tolerances. It still shouldn't account for the extra left spacing.
Bryan says:
Jessica- I'm a bit rusty when it comes to front end code, but I think that's just a div padding issue. I'm a negative space lover.
Mark-Now we're talking. I feel like you're about to put the designer in the guillotine with "misjudgments are almost unforgivable". Those are fighting words. We might just need to have a pixel showdown.
Bryan says:
The Yahoo news video, while a different design, also suffers from similar spacing issues.
Jessica says:
@Bryan: Yes it's just margins. None the less it's still a personal annoyance, ha. And on that note I concur with Mark about the finer details.
amc hedge fund says:
Hi Homie I found your site on Google Blogsearch and I and read a few of your other posts. Yours Sincerly
bottled water says:
You know, my homie have to tell you, my homie really think its good this site and dha insight from everyone who participates.
Add your comment...