I have been designing for almost 5 years now. I have noticed something very strange in my development lifespan. My appreciation for my works decreases substantially over time. Especially in my UX works for applications, where I work almost 10 hours a day (writing code) and where I am confronted with the interface all the time.
When I layout the user interface in Illustrator for example, I am very satisfied with how it looks, but after a couple months of development and seeing it over and over again, I always find something that I could improve and I kind of end up in this vicious cycle which does not seem to have an end.
This is a huge problem for me because my own products do not seem to be worthy to be launched in my eyes. I also have to say that I am a perfectionist, so of course that plays a key role.
Does anybody experience the same thing?
How do I put an end to this cycle?
Answer
Beware, this is more of a ‘sentimental answer’. I’ll try to be concise.
This still happens to me and will probably continue to happen, or at least I expect so. For me, it’s not only the things I created five years ago, but those I finished last week. I always think there’s something else I could have done to improve it.
I don’t actually think there is a point in a UI design where you can say “I’ve reached perfection”. There are so many ways to express an idea, so many alternative interfaces that work, that the wisest thing you can do is, I think, choose the path you want to follow, and commit to it.
DA01 puts it perfectly in the comment. Design is art, and designers (even those that spend 10 hours writing code) are artists. The day you stop critizing yourself is the day you stop learning.
The ideal situation would be to find a balance. Include periodic review times in your workflow, invite people, run 5sec tests for the things you feel might not be clear or need some polishing. And take a distance, if you can, switch to other projects so you get a better understanding of what someone who has not been inside the design can see.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : the_critic , Answer Author : Yisela