Design is more important than code

Banner image: Antoinette de Boer, Design

Kubernetes is hot new technology that's going through major improvements all the time. But improvements to its functionality don't matter if no one can understand how their cluster is configured.

Many companies worry constantly about logging and other observability tools. But adding more instrumentation to your stack is worthless if you don't have an easy way to read and summarize that data later.

I would submit that in most cases, improving the design of your tool is more critical than improving its performance or functionality.

Have I seen beautiful and clear user experiences hamstrung by poorly implemented software? Oh yes. But for every time I've seen that, I can think of 10 other examples where the code worked great but actual users could not find what they needed due to unclear and confusing design.

No matter how powerful and full-featured a tool is, its real-world value is capped if users can’t easily move through the application to accomplish their tasks - not to mention discover new ways to use the app. With the release of the redesigned RudderStack, you will benefit from a number of navigation improvements.

the new RudderStack UI is denser with a clearer information hierarchy

Design can point out feature needs

As we work to clarify our design and UX goals, this can point out the need for features. What started as a project to get RudderStack "Enterprise ready" with the ability for a single user to manage multiple organizations -- grew into an effort to make the whole experience easier to understand and easier to audit later.

users can now track every change made in RudderStack

So go out and look at your interfaces. Ask for a new user's feedback! The hours you spend on improving a UI may save you weeks of development.

Comments

[Elio Struyf]

It is the user experience that is more important. Not the design or the code. UX is not the design.

I understand that you want to point out that a crappy-looking site would be used less than a beautifully designed one, but if the user has to click 20 times before data is submitted. They probably won't use it either.

[Nočnica Mellifera]

Yeah the design i really like is "transparent". It's prioritizing clarity.