Watching or Working

Short summary

Design budget should follow user intent: spend on visual polish for marketing sites where visitors are watching and judging quickly, but prioritize speed and invisibility for internal tools where workers are leaning in all day. The author learned this after contractors killed an animated koi fish in a quoting tool within three uses, calling it 'pretty annoying.' The rule: decoration in work tools is a tax on every use, so keep working screens plain and fast.

• •Spend design budget on looks for marketing sites, speed for internal tools
• •Decoration in work tools is friction — contractors killed a cute animation in 3 uses
• •Invisible design (breadcrumbs, sane defaults, working back button) matters most in work tools

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.