Simple Design isn't Bland Design

I love simple clean design that is memorable to the user. I often do critiques for other designers, sometimes when I am in a bad mood I think of myself as the Simon Cowell of design.

Here is a recent help session.

Here is the design he sent:

What I said....

• Less text, if you can explain the concept in 2 sentences its not written well or the concept is too confusing.
• Less data, don't waste the user's time by showing irrelevant data (why show the user "other locations", I don't care about people in NYC can order).
• Less confusion, can your Mom navigate the site?
• Less visual elements, you want people to go into ordering their meal, not read text and get distracted.
• This isn't a social network, so why have newest users?
• Less blah, don't be bland, don't call bland, simple. They are very different.

Here is the design we came up with in 10 minutes of talking, its rough but its a better start.

Think about the process of what you are trying to accomplish. What does the user need to do next? On this app the user needs to select a city first to be able to see the available menus in their area. Why show them anything else besides "pick your city"?

If you need an outside opinion on your design hit me up. I love to chat about design issues and help push someone towards a solution.

3 Comments

Tyler said on December 03, 2007

Thanks again for the help Allan…

Those 10 minutes have completely changed the way I look at the web. Now, I do little quick exercices where I look at the site and go “Gee, how could I make it so much better using the principles mentioned?”

It will be a great launching point for our business…

Jörn Zaefferer said on December 19, 2007

Hey Allan,

consider yourself hitted! I’d be glad to get your opinion on a particular thingy.

Couldn’t find any contact information, so I hope you’ll drop me a mail, I provided my email address.

Regards
Jörn

Andy said on January 03, 2008

Hi Brian,

I’d love to hear what you think of my site. I’m a British developer learning the basics of design and trying to keep things simple.

Cheers,
Andy