When working with a design program or text editor for extended periods, usually i had two questions in my mind: should I complete my task at hand as flawlessly as possible, or should I do it according to time, budget, and client needs?
For me, finishing a task means preparing and delivering the task I’m working on to fulfill its intended function. Deciding to stop is consciously ending the task at the point where no further time or resources need be invested.
The difference between the two, from my perspective, isn’t simply adding a symbol, a form field, even a product or revising the colors; it’s evaluating where the work is going and what I have at hand, using my available resources, and finally making a decision.
The act of drawing a line isn’t always as simple as it sounds, and when you’re working for a living, it’s crucial to truly understand what I have before that final CTRL+S.
– Does the final result fulfill its intended function? (Does the product work?)
– Are my initial self-tests positive? (Can I use the product? Would I use it in its current state?)
– Can everyone in the target audience use the product without any problems? (Is the UI and UX good enough?)
– Can I replicate / extend the product later?
By asking myself questions like these, I can more easily understand where I stand on the design.
And perhaps the most important question a designer should ask themselves at this stage is: Does the cost of further product development justify the effort / resources / time I’m investing? What will this development benefit me?If most of the answers to the questions on your list are “yes,” submit the project immediately; if there’s uncertainty and a lot of “no,” you can start by creating a new prioritization plan.
Finishing vs. Stopping
Before continuing, it’s necessary to discuss the meanings of the terms finish and stop in more detail.
Finishing means that the project is ready for delivery, meeting all its requirements. In other words, if the product fulfills its intended function, is applicable, and can be used without any problems, the project is complete. At this stage, the project can be considered to have achieved its primary objectives.
Stopping is more of a decision than an action. Often, you see that a design you’re working on could be improved further, but it’s clear that the time and effort invested in it isn’t worth the benefits, so you stop.
If making small improvements doesn’t significantly increase the overall success of the project you’re working on, and it’s not significantly affected by it, shifting resources to another priority seems more logical, and you stop.
This is the fundamental difference between finish and stop. “Finish” often refers to an ideal state of completion, while “stop” is a strategic decision.
How do you decide to finish or stop?
What is the project’s purpose, and what KPIs should you measure?
Reviewing the goals set at the very beginning of a project is the oldest and most reliable way to determine whether a task is complete. Look back at what your project manager, team leader, boss, or client expected from you at the outset.
Does the user perform the intended behaviors while using the product? Are conversion rates as expected? Is the brand message accurate? If you can answer these questions with a clear “yes,” then the design has achieved its goal.
How much time do you have, and what is your budget?
The design process can’t last forever; this completely contradicts workflow diagrams. A task starts and ends. If the time allotted for the task is nearing completion and your budget is nearing completion, you should question whether additional improvements are necessary. This is crucial. When time and money are two limiting resources, every minute and every penny counts.
Diminishing returns
As the design progresses and the scope of the project expands, making improvements may not yield the expected benefits. Initial changes make larger differences throughout the design, while smaller adjustments made toward the end result have less impact.
At this point, the designer should ask themselves: Is the time spent improving the design worth the final result? If the answer is no, stop and get it done.
What is the relationship between the product and the user?
If the target audience understands and uses the product you designed without any problems, and if tests show no problems, the design is well-designed and the process has progressed successfully, stop and deliver.
What is the technical feasibility of the product?
You may have designed a great product, but if it can’t be technically implemented, you have a major problem.
The smooth implementation of your design requires maintaining the product’s expected performance and accessibility guidelines. If the design is also technically sound, this is an indication that it is nearing completion.
Is the product accessible to everyone in the target audience? Is the product compatible?
Whoever your target audience is when you design, the product is expected to be easily used by everyone in that target audience. If we’re talking about printed material, we need to meet application requirements for colors, photos, contrast, layout, fonts, and even accessibility for individuals with disabilities. If feedback on the product’s use is positive, complete the design and submit the work.
“Finishing the design” step by step.
Read and verify your goals “again, again”: Before finalizing your design, open your project notes and double-check the criteria that must be met for the project to be considered successful. If the final product truly meets these goals, then finalize it.
Perform quick checks: Take the design and quickly review its various sections. Check critical points and verify that key design elements are functioning properly: for example, do links work, does the menu pop up when the screen shrinks, do images scale correctly, etc. If there are no errors in the basic user experience, finalize it.
Analyze user behavior: If the vast majority of users complete tasks without any problems while using the product and performance metrics are close to the goals, finalize it.
Perform a diminishing benefit analysis: If the final adjustments you want to make only improve the design visually but don’t have a measurable impact on user behavior, finalize it without further ado. Don’t waste time on seemingly unnecessary improvements.
Create a list of risks: Identify which areas need to be addressed and resolved first to improve the design. Prioritize high-priority issues and postpone lower-priority ones.
Activate the approval mechanism: Organize a review meeting to share the final design with the other project stakeholders, initiating a short approval process. If everyone agrees, finalize and release the design to ensure a smooth transition to implementation.
Just before finalizing the design and moving on to the next phase, it’s helpful to create a brief plan for any future issues that may need to be addressed. This approach will help you avoid delays in delivering the current project and create a roadmap for future improvements.
Clearing up any doubts you may have.
There’s something I’ve been aware of for a while and trying to avoid when designing: wasting time trying to perfect the last little details.
In the past, when I looked at the process as a whole, I’d get bogged down in the remaining minor details, even though I’d already completed a much larger and more important portion of the project. Once I accepted that these didn’t have a significant impact on the overall design, I started delivering my work faster and on time.
The important thing to remember is that perhaps a design isn’t valuable because it’s good enough, but because it successfully fulfills its function. Essentially, my point is that while striving for aesthetic perfection, don’t lose sight of whether the design actually solves the problem it’s intended to solve. A design can be defined as good enough if it provides a solution to the task it’s designed to accomplish, simplifies the process, and fulfills its function.
Another point to keep in mind is that finishing a design too early can miss out on important design feedback and insights into the user experience. Stopping too late can also lead to wasting more money and energy than necessary.
The right balance can often be achieved by adopting a minimal, viable design approach. Naturally, users already provide feedback as they try out the product; you can create a new roadmap to further develop the design. This not only saves time but also ensures you receive the feedback you need from users.
It’s often impossible to deliver big projects perfectly the first time, so you can implement incremental development and delivery mechanisms. Deliver the design, gather feedback, revise, release a new version, and repeat.
This approach reduces risk, softens potential criticism, and keeps the process more manageable. It’s also a good way to tell a story; users feel a part of the process by seeing firsthand how a product progresses.
The psychological traps created by indecision and how to avoid them
One of the biggest traps I fall into when designing and approaching delivery is perfectionism. I’d always tell myself it would look better when I was in front of the computer, and after accepting that this wouldn’t end, I knew I had to finish it somewhere before I even started. I even wrote an article about why there’s no such thing as perfection in design.
As a designer, there are times when I don’t shy away from adding little touches to my work. These are things I do partly to attract the attention of the client who requested a design from me, and partly to ensure that users in the client’s target audience feel a connection with the brand while using the product. However, when I’m pressed for time or working with a smaller budget, I now prioritize whether these small details truly contribute to the user experience.
Staring at a project for a certain period of time can lead to a condition called designer blindness. Based on my own experience, I can clearly say that this reduces the quality of the work and slows down the design process.
If you feel like you’re stuck and exhausted while designing, If you’re bored, step away from the screen, focus on something else, or, if possible, ask someone else to review the design. Having someone else look at the design can help you easily spot flaws, errors, or even excessive details you might not have noticed yourself.
Stopping doesn’t mean giving up on design; it’s a wise decision made to use resources efficiently, focus on the user, and maintain quality. While you can make endless improvements and developments when designing a product, the key points to consider are your goal, user needs, and how the design will perform in the real world…
References and further reading…
- Usability (User) testing 101
- Design thinking
- Pareto principle
- Optimize or satisfice in engineering design?
- Design after design
- Perspectives on iteration in design and development
Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash
