How to get better at design

2019-02-05

I recently answered a post on Indiehackers.com about how non-design founders (Such as developers and business people) can get better at design. That's something I always try to help my clients do so that they can make better decisions. This allows us to work better together and help them become more self-sufficient. After all my job is to help them succeed not bleed them out. Here is what I told him:


Getting better with design is similar to getting better at programming. The more you do it the better you get.

That being said as a consultant I usually try to help my clients get a better sense for design so that we can work together more easily. Here are a couple of tips that you can try as a first steps to get better:

  1. First of all start paying attention when you use a product that you like or made a good impression on you visually. Pay special attention to sizing, spacing, colors, etc..

  2. Start simple. After years of designing I still start things very simple. Usually on a white background with a good font and one high contrast color (besides black). Give elements the breathing room they deserve by adding spacing. Without going into details I would recommend you to go back to step 1 and look at the products you like for inspiration. I would also suggest you to base your gray tones on that single high contrast color. For example instead of making the text be completely black, add a hint of that primary color into it (indiehackers.com actually does this).

  3. Don't overcomplicate things, especially at the start. For example let's take indiehackers.com as an example. If you were designing it from scratch you should probably just focus on the posts themselves in the beginning and try to get them to be as good as you can before adding other things that would clutter the interface and the user experience.

I hope this helps. Feel free to pm me if you want some tips on your product. That includes anyone else who might be reading this.