Ask HN: How to overcome self criticism with UI design
Hey fellow hackers.
I'm a part of a bootstrapped, 3 person strong startup (1 biz guy, 2 devs) and I'm the one responsible for designing the user interface for the prototype app we are building. I have a gazillion ideas how the interface should look like, but the problem is I'm constantly changing it as I'm never fully satisfied with the outcome. I know that prototype (MVP) should mostly be focused on the core proposition, but somehow I managed to convince myself into thinking that the experience must be absolutely flawless in order for early customers to like it and thus us having a higher chance of success. I'm primarily a PHP/RoR/Js developer but I have a great interest in design - I visit dribbble, smashingmag and co. on a daily basis.
I'm asking this question as I often find myself deciding too long on things like (css) shadow opacity and border color.
Any tips much appreciated!
First, stop looking for a "better" design. Functional design is a much better goal. It's better to launch an ugly site and make it better over time (or not, see Craig's List) than to never launch the site at all.
As a developer, I found that writing code so that the site is easily skinned so as to accommodate quick re-skinning makes my fickle sense of design easier to overcome. The fact that "I CAN" re-skin it allows me to not focus on the fact that "I should" re-skin it. Using a modular template approach facilitates this... Load the various parts of the page from templates: top (pre-head), head, body top, body content, body footer, and finally page footer.
Second, outsource the design and give that person the power to make the final decision.
Finally, spend time (and money) on sites like ThemeForest.net (no affiliation) and 99Designs.com (no affiliation) to get implementation ideas and templates.