Tips for Front End Developers to Walk Away from Bad Design Ideas

The most difficult part of being in the creative industry is to kill your own creation.  Given that you are reading this document, we can assume that you are a front-end / user interface developer.  It is hard to be us, isn’t it?  We have to come up with creative ideas of developing a great front end for a website or web application.  However, there are many times when we get too attached to our creation.  It can be that element of a design that impedes the entire process.  We know that it will not work, but we keep laboring over it.  If something is not working in the scheme of things, it better be removed at the earliest.  However, we continue to hope against hope to fix it.  That hope, in most cases, ends up in vain.  Here are some strategies you can use to get rid of this syndrome.  

• Nip it in the Bud: So, this is an extremely important strategy.  As a front end website developer, you will know how much time it takes to complete a project.  Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could save some time?  That will happen if you nip the problem in its bud.  With most projects, everything goes smoothly at the outset and then we hit a snag.  Some of these snags are easy to resolve but the others promise to pose a major roadblock.  The sooner we realize the difference and move on, the better would it be for the project’s time-to-market.
• Listen to Yourself: This is another common problem.  We tend to know what’s right and what’s not.  However, listening to our inner self is something we don’t do all the time.  Our front end developer designer (yes, she wears both hats!) tells us how much he tries to justify a design to himself.  However, her inner self continues to tell her that it will not work.  The sooner she listens to it, the more time she will save.
• Speed is the Key: It is extremely painful to dump something you have worked on for long.  It is like ripping off a bandage that’s been on your skin for a while.  However, do you remember how it felt taking the bandage off slowly?  It hurt even more than when you quickly ripped it off.  So, be quick, sharp, and ruthless with your work.
• Walk Away: Okay; so we know that front end developers are busy.  However, sometimes a short break can go a long way in reducing your project’s time-to-market.  So, here’s the deal.  If you feel that you have hit a road block with your project, you should take a while to walk away from the project.  You can either start working on another project or just get away from your computer screen.  You wouldn’t believe how much of a help it can be.  You will get a remarkably fresh outlook.
• Ask for Opinion:  If you are still not being able to decide what you should do with your creation, ask for opinions.  You will have people whom you trust, and you can ask them for their opinions.  In most cases, they will reiterate what your inner self has been telling you for a while now.

Once you make the move from a bad, flawed design to the new, more promising design; you will be able to experience instant relief.  Most user interface developers, that we talk to, tend to see real value in shelving what’s not working.  So, the great front end developers that we are; let us make it a point to walk away from the bad to be introduced to what’s ‘Great.’