Designing the Middle?
UI design has always struck me as the “middle”, usually between a complex system and the users that need to interact with it. This is the essential layer – part science, part visual design – which brings usability to potentially unfathomable technology.
The idea of designing the middle also refers to the middle ground between style and design, addressed in this seminal essay by Jeffrey Zeldman:
“Many young web designers view their craft the way I used to view pop culture. It’s cool or it’s crap … Not enough designers are working in that vast middle ground between eye candy and usability where most of the web must be built.”
I am proud to be operating in that space. It is the essential area that must be seized by professional and aspirational designers in order to slowly and steadily raise the average quality of real-world design.
I tend to label myself a design journeyman. There are very few masters of our craft out there. I am a professional in my field. But still learning.