The roles of functionality and aesthetics are probably different for every single project, website, or application. Some projects require little more than an easily understood interface that draws the user naturally into its functionality (think Google or Craigslist). Others succeed only when style is given as much or more thought than what the project, website, or application is ostensibly trying to ‘do’: aesthetics can make the difference in whether the user experience is memorable enough to convert, or go away and never return.
As functionality and aesthetics are always up for debate, so too is the place of the designers and developers involved in the effort. This discussion at readwriteweb with some noted design/development types on UI design, and what’s working and what’s not working in 2009, is worth checking out. A sample:
One of the telling differences between an application design that is handled by a designer and one that is handled more by a development team is spacing. Developers don’t usually think much about how element should sit on a screen together, so you see a lot of items crammed together or unevenly distributed. This is the kind of thing an average user can’t put their finger on, but on a subconscious level, it bothers them and gives them a negative opinion of the application.
