Lots of good snippets in this thread by Amber Case, that UI designers should either know, or pay close attention to. A twist and rephrasing of ‘form follows function’, via the story of her friend working in a startup…

…her user experience designer kept getting into the detail about how the user interface *looked*

When I tried out her app, I told her the problem. “It *looks* like a user interface,” I said, “but that’s the problem. It doesn’t *feel* like one”.

Apps are supposed to be pass-through when designed well. Our minds are supposed to focus on the task, not the tool. All of these hours in visual design were spent on the wrong task.

So much is missed when we design based on what we think design *looks* like vs. how the mind expects design should *feel*.

I feel like lots of people have a warped perception of what design is, they’re overfit on visuals and less on feeling.

That’s why so much stuff feels terrible to use even though it looks good in an ad. It’s like building the app before figuring out where the desire paths are on paper. Much is lost when our minds are constantly trying to click a button that’s in the wrong place to begin with.

Visuals can guide the experience, but only if they’re done well. In some cases, I think the confusion in the industry lies in often dual meanings of single words.

There’s more in the thread, which isn’t that long, so do go and read. All classic points, and worth reiterating to ensure that less experienced (and more sheltered) designers learn and understand the duality of good UI design.

And that last point, on ‘confusion in dual meanings of single words’, is a particularly important one. On topic with my ongoing opinions about semantics and shared understandings! I should go back and tag all my posts that touch on the theme. Although maybe easier to tag the few that don’t.