Why non-designers matter

So often as designers, we get totally wrapped up in our design that we forget all about the end user and how they’ll be interacting with our work. Some designers even make the mistake of designing with their peers in mind instead of their clients! They seem to care more about what their fellow designers think of their work than the client who is paying for the job.

I completely understand the need for recognition from the design community. And in an ideal word, it would be great to only work on projects worthy of the next design award. But when it starts compromising on the end users experience because you’ve made it so difficult to read, or you just had to use the latest trending font that simply doesn’t match your clients brand, I think you’ve done yourself and the end user a disservice.

It’s important to remember that most people are non-designers. They don’t think like designers and don’t place the same value on aesthetics the way we do. Quite frankly, they just want to be able to read the label clearly and don’t care whether it won an award for best label design.

I believe it’s our responsibility as designers to help the end users navigate through their consumer experience as easy as possible. Sometimes that might result in you creating work that’s not necessarily “sexy” or exciting, but extremely useful to the end user.