{"id":139642,"date":"2022-03-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/?p=9062"},"modified":"2023-03-28T16:10:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T21:10:07","slug":"overcoming-design-perfectionism","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/overcoming-design-perfectionism\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Design Perfectionism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perfect<\/em>. It\u2019s how we want our designs to be. It\u2019s what we want to offer our clients. Perfection is, ultimately, what we\u2019re after with our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfectionism is something a lot of us claim, using it to assure our potential clients that we\u2019ll deliver nothing short of perfect. \u201cI\u2019m a perfectionist, and I won\u2019t stop until your design is pixel-perfect!\u201d is a big selling point, right? In this fast-moving, highly competitive market, it feels like nothing short of perfect will do\u2014but is perfectionism really the valiant approach to work that we make it out to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem with Design Perfectionism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s certainly important to do your absolute best to create a perfect design for your clients. That said, perfectionism isn\u2019t necessarily the badge of honor we\u2019d like to think it is. When left unchecked, design perfectionism is crippling. You agonize, you tweak, you check every page on every device and screen size, you adjust more pixels, you check again, you get frustrated, and then\u2026 you get stuck in that never-ending cycle. Nothing is ever<\/em> perfect enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Photo credit to Roni Rosen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And there you stagnate, stuck on your own monitor and in your own head instead of having your best ideas being used and evaluated. By not having that user feedback, you\u2019re missing the opportunity to make improvements to the project that carry much more actual value than the exact placement of a sidebar or the width of a banner. Because let\u2019s face it: it\u2019s the tiny details of appearance that send us into perfectionist overdrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problematic design perfectionism translates into lower productivity. You put off getting started (aka procrastination) because you don\u2019t know the \u201cright\u201d way to begin, and then once you start, you keep getting stuck. This means you\u2019ve got a longer development cycle and your work isn\u2019t efficient. In extreme cases, design perfectionism can lead to missed deadlines, unfinished projects, client issues, and even the failure to deliver the at all. Others might find their perfectionism prohibits them from getting started<\/em> as a designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some easily recognized signs that perfectionism has spiraled out of control. You\u2019re probably suffering from web design perfectionism if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • You feel frustrated, anxious, or consumed in a negative way with your design.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You speak or think predominantly negative things about yourself regarding your design, e.g. \u201cI\u2019m just lazy\u201d or \u201cI can never get anything right.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You feel so overwhelmed at the thought of beginning your project that you can\u2019t seem to get started.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You feel tremendous resistance to contact the client for any input, clarifications, or advice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    How to Overcome Design Perfectionism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    You must internalize this: a web design is never really done. It\u2019s a dynamic page in a constantly evolving sea of trends, user preferences, updates, and needs. There\u2019s no such thing as a perfectly finished design, down to the last pixel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"a<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Adjust to the concept of \u201cgood enough.\u201d Before you scoff: good enough does NOT mean you slap up the first iteration that comes to your mind and write it off as done. Good enough means you put in the right amount of effort and energy into creating something that adheres to the guidelines and expectations you and the client set for each other in the beginning, and you deliver something that\u2019s creative, effective, and really good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There may be changes to make along the way and new iterations to introduce, but you know these are the right changes because they\u2019ve already been tested. You aren\u2019t wasting time anymore on things that, ultimately, aren\u2019t central to what makes a web design truly great: functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One thing you can do when you start feeling bogged down in perfectionism is to contact the client. Some designers don\u2019t want to ask their clients any questions because they’d prefer to waltz in at the end with a final, perfect project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But that\u2019s a big risk to take, especially when you\u2019re feeling stuck. It\u2019s much better to check in along the way, especially when you\u2019ve hit a wall and you know something is off but you can\u2019t quite figure it out. It could be that you\u2019ve hyper-focused on something the client doesn\u2019t value and you\u2019ve missed something much more important to them. Touching base gives you valuable feedback not only on the design, but on where your focus should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s more important to keep doing the work, to keep creating, to keep pleasing your clients, and to keep growing as a designer than it is to create something that is absolutely flawless from every angle imaginable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember: flawless today is just one plugin update away from being broken tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Perfect. It\u2019s how we want our designs to be. It\u2019s what we want to offer our clients. Perfection is, ultimately, what we\u2019re after with our work. Perfectionism is something a lot of us claim, using it to assure our potential clients that we\u2019ll deliver nothing short of perfect. \u201cI\u2019m a perfectionist, and I won\u2019t stop…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142012,"template":"","resource-topic":[1396],"resource-role":[1397],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-139642","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOvercoming design perfectionism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Perfect. It\u2019s how we want our designs to be and what we want to offer our clients. 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