Here’s a dirty secret: a big part of the design process involves copying the work of others, intentionally or not.
Sure, every designer espouses the idea of originality, and few actually start out by copying others. But the truth is, none of us designs anything in a vacuum, so everything we create is really the product of what we’ve seen somewhere else.
So here’s my controversial proposition: stop denying that copying happens, and simply start copying what works best. Look, even if you don’t want to copy something, the likelihood that you’re going to end up with something no one has ever seen before is highly unlikely. Instead of going around in circles for hours or days, find your inspiration, and then incorporate that into your work.
Think of a great photographer: she doesn’t create what she shoots. No, she makes a copy of something. But the creativity is in the interpretation, the composing and framing, the processing and presentation. The originality is in how she makes the image her own: distinctive, unique, and compelling.
This is not a novel concept; any designer who has ever pulled swipe for a project (a collage of inspirational tidbits torn from magazines, copied from books, stolen from the Web, etc.), knows what I’m talking about. We use those inspirational bits to form our new idea; the better the swipe, the better the final output.
The same is true of information architecture. We often want to create an entirely unique way to navigate a website or application. And, sometimes it works. But most change that works is evolutionary in nature. Rarely does someone propose and develop an entirely new information architecture that works, primarily because the user is not ready for something entirely new. Gradual change is the key.
For example, I was recently working on an iPhone application, and I noticed that the competing apps fell into two categories: those with completely novel navigation scenarios, and those with tried-and-true navigation scenarios. It’s not surprising that those with novel navigation had lower user reviews than those that just accepted the conventions. Who wants to learn a new navigation structure when what they really want to do is to get to the content? Anything else just gets in the way.
Pick your battles. When something calls for invention, then by all means invent. But, whenever possible, copy what works, but copy it smartly.
This makes me think of the old adage: “Stealing from one person is plagurism; stealing form many is scholarship.”
There’s a reason idioms/standards/best practices (or whatever you call them) exist. In fact, there should be more copying. Imagine if every door worked the same way? No more guessing if you need to pull or push!
“Who wants to learn a new navigation structure when what they really want to do is to get to the content? Anything else just gets in the way.”
Exactly. Thank you.