There seems to be a growing trend among UX designers and how they use research to inform their design decisions. Let’s establish this premise first- user experience design is art AND science. With that said, how much science informs the art?

I recall a blog commentary among the designers at Google in which there was much debate over the shade of blue and which to use for a particular design. The designers were frustrated with the debate and research. They wanted to move forward with the blue they had chosen. This is an illustration of how too much science can get in the way of art.

But what is art? Isn’t art just some overly made up profession of free spirits with crayons? Of course not. Design is a profession. It involves understanding audiences, communication techniques, psychology, and above all intuition. You can’t teach intuition. The masters understand what colors to use and when. Actually most good designers understand that notion.

Asking a designer to justify their design decisions is warranted. But understand that they may not have an answer for everything on the screen. Late nights of tweaking shades of blue, adjusting pixels, adding more whitespace, and creating balance are all things a designer does naturally when building their composition.

Understand it. Respect it. And trust their intuition. Too much science can ruin a masterful design.

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