I think everyone knows of a popular brand or product that defies almost everything we know about good design. Plain Jane websites like Craigslist and PlentyOfFish have millions of hits every day. The world’s most popular web host, GoDaddy, has the world’s most crazy-making user interface. Offline, the best-selling products on store shelves are a mish-mash of design — from highly strategic, beautiful products to unattractive crap that people buy anyway.
Do people just have bad taste?
I don’t think so. Most people I know pay attention to at least a few aspects of design in their lives, whether it’s the design of their clothes, cars, homes, cell phones… the list goes on.
So how do some hugely successful companies get away with bad design when most people know their stuff is ugly? I have a theory. In the aforementioned examples, the company:
- Is perceived to be the absolute price leader in its industry. In other words, the product or service is either free or very cheap.
- Solves a compelling problem in a totally new way.
- Offers little or no risk for customers who want to try the product or service.
The vast majority of businesses don’t fit into those categories. Indeed, most of us need a healthy marketing budget that includes a design component. Design enhances products and services in ways that few other tools can. Companies such as Apple, Target and Starbucks have reshaped entire industries through design. Apple, in particular, has proven that people will pay a premium for something functional and beautiful.
It seems to me that there are lessons to be learned from all successful companies, from Apple to PlentyOfFish. For designers, it’s about finding solutions that work for our clients — even if the best solution isn’t necessarily the best-looking solution.
David Butler, vice president of global design at Coca-Cola, recently gave this advice to designers: “Focus more on the design of the world, and less on the world of design.”
Simple words, and true.
I have another type of business that likes ugly design: a business whose products are so good that you ignore design. For me, that business is X10. X10 makes home security and automation products, and their website is a 12-year-old’s dream carnival on crack (www.x10.com). If I didn’t know their products were good, I’d never order from them.
Another great example of a company whose products are very cheap so they get along with horrendous design is the Pink Bismol of wine & liquor distributors – Hi Time Wine (www.hitimewine.net). I love their prices and their service, but I can barely stomach their website.
In my case, it’s not that I don’t notice these companies’ terrible designs, it’s just that their prices are so good that I can’t afford not to buy from them!
I remember when we talked about the perceived risk of buying from Hi Time Wine. You said you would never have given them your credit card if it hadn’t worked for a friend. The poor design took away from their credibility, which could have lost them a customer.
Imagine how successful they would be if they had a decent website…