Clarity and Style Posted March 18, 2019 by Matthias Ott 52 Webmentions #clarity #design #process #style #ux A few days ago, John Maeda, Head of Computational Design and Inclusion at Automattic, shared this tweet: Good design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego.— John Maeda (@johnmaeda) March 14, 2019 He is right. We are all responsible for what we create and the ego of a designer should never influence the design in a way that it negatively affects quality. But it was primarily the first part of the tweet that got me thinking because it touches on something quite important. Good design is about clarity over style. There is much truth in this statement, yet it is something that still isn’t well understood, it seems. Good design has intention and it has to communicate something, often on many different levels, to be effective. This makes clarity essential: The purpose of a design has to be clear, the functionality has to be clear, and the message has to be clear. Style, though, in the sense of a distinctive aesthetic appearance, might appeal to the eye and thus successfully deceive people for a little while if a design lacks clarity. But taken all by itself, style is not enough for a design to be effective. If the message isn’t clear, making it look pretty will only get you so far. Style in the sense of appearance is not sustainable. It is volatile. Yet, many designers seem to still favor style over clarity quite often. Why? It might well be that, sometimes, designers are themselves deceived by style, by an extraordinarily well-crafted sensual appearance. Sometimes, designers also simply fall in love with the artistic side of design so much that they get lost in it and forget to look with a beginners mind. Sometimes, designers deliberately use style to “seduce” clients and stakeholders to get approval or to gloss over certain shortcomings. Style certainly is powerful and seductive. But maybe the primary reason why so many designers prefer style over clarity is: Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard. Making something crystal clear requires straightforwardness, consistency, and perseverance. It requires advocating for something and at the same time being open to change your mind. To achieve clarity, you need to be willing to ask questions, to challenge every detail, and to reduce something down to the essential. Clarity is when you communicate exactly the right amount of something, not too much, but at the same time – and this also often gets confused – not too little. Only because we make something less complex, it doesn’t automatically get more clear. Sometimes, you have to add the right amount of complexity to make something clearer. Maps, for example, can be exceedingly complex yet still strikingly clear. Making something crystal clear also means knowing not only how to say something and how much of it but, first and foremost, what to say and why. And for this, it isn’t enough to simply slap some lorem ipsum text into your design and wait for someone else to fill in just the right words later. You need to know how to encode your message so that the right people are able to decode it. This is standard semiotics but it requires a deep understanding of the people you want to reach. You need to understand your audience, their needs and wants, what drives them, and the context in which they might interact with your design. You need to work with content first – maybe not the final version of it but already on point regarding the message – and design with this material, the real material, all real materials, constantly prototyping, observing, and improving every aspect of your design until you know it works. And this is where style comes in again. Because, of course, style has its place. Which is also why John wrote “clarity over style” and not “clarity instead of style”. There is still an and. Style can be what sets you apart from the competition. Style can create identity and convey emotions and atmosphere, even a feeling of familiarity. Style can support your message by further improving clarity. Good design is about clarity over style. Combining clarity and style so that they complement each other and the design reaches another level of fidelity is mastery. Prototyping.news: For a monthly update on the latest articles, tools, and other resources about prototyping for the Web, sign up for my free newsletter Prototyping.news. ~ 52 Webmentions Alfred Danda Clarity and Style #UX #UI #Design matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… CSS-Tricks #design ????; About "Good design is about clarity over style." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… ????; Always Ask Why Five Times thedesignteam.io/always-ask-why… ????; How to get buy-in for building a design system abstract.com/blog/design-sy… Sandi Leonties matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Adactio Links Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Jens Tangermann matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… CSS-Tricks > Good design has intention and it has to communicate something, often on many different levels, to be effective. This makes clarity essential: The purpose of a design has to be clear, the functionality has to be clear, and the message has to be clear. matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Martin Cibere #Clarity and #Style by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign Brinkmanda "Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… contentiful strategies “Good #design has intention and it has to #communicate something, often on many different levels, to be effective. ” buff.ly/2UCOIai via @m_ott Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign PINT, Inc "If the message isn’t clear, making it look pretty will only get you so far." Ann Clarity and Style matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #DesignMadness #UX #UI #Creative Rob Langdon "Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard." (via @Pocket) matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #doingthehardworktomakethingssimple UNIHUNT Zamyšlení nad tématem srozumitelnost vs. styl matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign Simon Fréour Sounds like advanced UX design advice to me: "Only because we make something less complex, it doesn’t automatically get more clear. Sometimes, you have to add the right amount of complexity to make something clearer." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… ALT Agency Clarity and Style >>> matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #webdesign #UX User Viewing Clarity and style | "Good #design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda – by @m_ott buff.ly/2Tfp0Tu #uxdesign #ux Tomas Ooms Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Cyril Rouhana Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Florida Man. Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Alan Natachu "Good design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Greg Gonzalez Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… MakeMyCreativeBrands Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Antony Marques Clarity and Style, by @m_ott buff.ly/2Tfp0Tu Eduardo Gómez Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Maite Dalila "Good design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Danial Kasim matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Joy Lin Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Hani Ramadhan Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Michael Le "Only because we make something less complex, it doesn’t automatically get more clear. Sometimes, you have to add the right amount of complexity to make something clearer." - @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Christina Bruce " Clarity is when you communicate exactly the right amount of something, not too much, but at the same time – and this also often gets confused – not too little." Dean Zarras Spot on: “Style certainly is powerful and seductive. But maybe the primary reason why so many designers prefer style over clarity is: Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.” — ;@m_ott; #software #uiux matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Redvelvet Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Carol Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Russell Frith Clarity and Style, by @m_ott russfr.it/2YPicQt #design #ux Art Blanc matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Dennis Frank Thank you @m_ott for this beautiful article about design. “Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.” David Hellmann New link: "Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer" — Direct Link: matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Matthias Ott Danke, Dennis! Tom Tinkerson "… knowing not only how to say something and how much of it but, first and foremost, what to say and why. And for this, it isn’t enough to simply slap some lorem ipsum text into your design and wait for someone else to fill in just the right words later." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Tom Tinkerson "content 1st – maybe not the final version but already on point regarding the message – design with this material, the real material, all real materials, constantly prototyping, observing, and improving every aspect of your design until you know it works" matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… Dennis Frank Thank you @m_ott for this beautiful article about design. “Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.” 1 Repost Mattia Compagnucci 6 Likes ilithya Markus Spannknebel :Dennis ⚡;️; Tom Tinkerson Mattia Compagnucci Gunnar Bittersmann ⓘ Webmentions are a way to notify other websites when you link to them, and to receive notifications when others link to you. Learn more about Webmentions. Have you published a response to this? Send me a webmention by letting me know the URL. Ping! More Notes Ad Infinitum Lazy and Prompt Buckle Up At Machine Speed
CSS-Tricks #design ????; About "Good design is about clarity over style." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… ????; Always Ask Why Five Times thedesignteam.io/always-ask-why… ????; How to get buy-in for building a design system abstract.com/blog/design-sy…
Adactio Links Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
CSS-Tricks > Good design has intention and it has to communicate something, often on many different levels, to be effective. This makes clarity essential: The purpose of a design has to be clear, the functionality has to be clear, and the message has to be clear. matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign
Brinkmanda "Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
contentiful strategies “Good #design has intention and it has to #communicate something, often on many different levels, to be effective. ” buff.ly/2UCOIai via @m_ott
Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign
Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign
Rob Langdon "Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard." (via @Pocket) matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #doingthehardworktomakethingssimple
Hassell Inclusion @m_ott discusses clairty & style in webdesign matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-… #UX #A11y #InclusiveDesign
Simon Fréour Sounds like advanced UX design advice to me: "Only because we make something less complex, it doesn’t automatically get more clear. Sometimes, you have to add the right amount of complexity to make something clearer." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
User Viewing Clarity and style | "Good #design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda – by @m_ott buff.ly/2Tfp0Tu #uxdesign #ux
Alan Natachu "Good design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Eduardo Gómez Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Maite Dalila "Good design is about clarity over style, and accountability over ego." @johnmaeda Clarity and Style, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Michael Le "Only because we make something less complex, it doesn’t automatically get more clear. Sometimes, you have to add the right amount of complexity to make something clearer." - @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Christina Bruce " Clarity is when you communicate exactly the right amount of something, not too much, but at the same time – and this also often gets confused – not too little."
Dean Zarras Spot on: “Style certainly is powerful and seductive. But maybe the primary reason why so many designers prefer style over clarity is: Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.” — ;@m_ott; #software #uiux matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Dennis Frank Thank you @m_ott for this beautiful article about design. “Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.”
David Hellmann New link: "Clarity and Style · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer" — Direct Link: matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Tom Tinkerson "… knowing not only how to say something and how much of it but, first and foremost, what to say and why. And for this, it isn’t enough to simply slap some lorem ipsum text into your design and wait for someone else to fill in just the right words later." matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Tom Tinkerson "content 1st – maybe not the final version but already on point regarding the message – design with this material, the real material, all real materials, constantly prototyping, observing, and improving every aspect of your design until you know it works" matthiasott.com/notes/clarity-…
Dennis Frank Thank you @m_ott for this beautiful article about design. “Styling something is easy. Making something crystal clear is hard.”
