Studio Highlight: When Aesthetics Meet Usability (September 2026)
One of the things I think about when designing a website is everything that happens after I hand it over. A design might look perfect on my screen, but that isn't where most people will experience it. Someone might be looking at it on their phone outside, with their brightness turned down, or quickly scanning the page between meetings. Good web design has to account for all of those realities.
That means some of the decisions I make aren't necessarily the ones that are most noticeable. I’m thinking about how large text needs to be, whether buttons are easy to find, how much space sits between clickable elements, and whether important information is still clear when someone is moving quickly through the page.
A few things I always consider:
→ Design for more than your own screen. Websites should hold up across devices, browsers, and viewing conditions. This even includes different models of the same product, like an iPhone 12 versus an iPhone 16.
→ Make important things obvious. Navigation, buttons, links, and calls to action shouldn't require someone to hunt for them.
→ Don't design for just one kind of user. Accessible websites consider different abilities, including how someone sees, hears, navigates, and interacts with a page.
The best website design isn't about anticipating every possible user. It's about creating enough flexibility and clarity that the experience still feels intuitive when things aren't perfectly controlled. That's the difference between designing a website that looks good and designing one that actually works.
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