What can I do better?
March 4th, 2008
This is a, if not the most important question you can ask yourself while designing, or developing. By asking yourself “What can I do better?”, you are basically stepping back from your own little world, and kind of looking at the project from above.
When “good enough” just doesn’t cut it
As a new designer, you might be asking yourself this, but also might answer your own questions with hollow excuses. An example of this might be:
Q. Why is there more of a space on this side, than the other in IE6?
A. Well there is now IE7 so most people probably have it. No big deal. Besides, no one will notice…
This is obliviously a terrible attitude to have. For whatever reason this is “good enough” to call it quits, and put the big DONE stamp on it. I see countless examples of new designers, or new to css designers just not going that extra yard. They just do not understand the importance of using doctypes. Something as simple as that is usually a key problem when debugging for IE (quirks), is often left out.
Like everything else, it just takes time to get into a good solid routine. Just like diet and exercise, which are awful to initiate, become second nature to you after a little bit of self coercion. It is the same principle with Web Standards. Getting into good habits and being tough on yourself now, will save you, your client, and the user a lot of time, money, and hassle.
I will be the first to admit that when I am ready for a redesign, I need to step up my game, and make things even better for you all. What it comes down to, is pretty much anytime you go to add something to your design or code you should first step back and say “Why am I doing this?”, and finally “What can I do better?”.
- Posted at 11:23 am in web design
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