Why you should move that button 3px to the left
Great article by Braden Kowitz on the value of polished UI. A few highlights:
Trust increases when we get the details right
Customers judge online credibility by evaluating visual design, copywriting, and interactions. If trust matters to your business, then design details should matter too. Check out the academic literature on the topic of interface design and trust, or look into Stanford’s Web Crediblity Project.
Usability increases when we get the details right
When we’re happy, using an interface feels like play. So when we get confused, we’re more likely to explore and find other paths to success. There’s a whole book on this topic: Emotional Design by Don Norman. Getting design details right can create positive emotional states that actually make products easier to use.
Batch up the work
Filling one pothole won’t turn a bumpy street into a smooth one — you’ll barely notice the change! So here’s the trick: Batch up UI bugs into one sprint. If your team regularly holds a fix-it day to squash bugs, then piggyback on that habit and hold a design fix-it day. As a designer, you can do advance work like putting all the changes into a spreadsheet or bug tracker and prioritizing issues.
Polish as you go
When a feature is 90% done from an engineering perspective, it can still feel about 10% done to a designer. Now I get excited about the functionality and celebrate that there’s only a bit of surface details to finish before the feature is perfect.
Avoid customization icebergs
Custom UI requires more polish than the built-in version. If the team doesn’t have the time to polish custom UI, it’s often better to stick to the boring native controls that work.
Full article here.
