The other day I was on a design roll. The UI pieces were falling into place, but more importantly, the designs were coming to life in a way where I could really see how customers would be able to use these new features to make their jobs easier, faster, and more enjoyable. Then it happened. The unthinkable. The terrible, horrible event of my computer crashing. For an instant, panic ran through my veins. However, I still had hope that I saved or the computer saved for me. My designs will be there when I reboot.
The designs weren’t there when I rebooted. Well, I didn’t think they were.
I had to redo what felt like an hour or so of work. As I got past the initial frustration, I remembered more and more of what I had done. Through this process I also thought of things I didn’t think of the first time. By the end, I had a set of designs that I believed were even stronger.
Here’s my suggestion to all UX/UI designers out there: When you arrive at a design that you think is great, force yourself to redo your work. Magical things can happen.
Try the crash and burn awesomeness:
- Work out a design until you think it is ready.
- Save your first design. File it away.
- Start over with a blank canvas.
- Work out the design until you think it is ready.
- Reopen your original design and compare to the second version.
I bet you’ll think of new things in the recreation. And forget things in the old one that you need to add back in. In the end, you’ll have a stronger, more thought out design.
