Form over Function

It has taken some time to come up with a new post that isn't just a new twist on something someone said recently, or in response to another article in the media about this or that - so here it is.

Don't be fooled, this is nothing new or ground breaking, but I was today reminded of something I have being saying for many years, especially about the company I used to co-own. There are very few agencies, either fully integrated or pure digital, who can both design to a very high standard and also build technically competent and well thought out websites.

I came across a company who have built a number of high street chain websites who claim the following "As one of the most technically capable web agencies in the UK, [name removed] has delivered countless solutions...". And there in lies the problem, the websites they produce are technically very good, but unfortunately are incredibly uninspiring from a design point of view. They may be technically brilliant - although I have to say one of the websites they have produced is one of my all time pet hates for poor functionality!

A great design and well formed navigation / usability / functionality will always win over some technical innovation in my opinion - this from an ex-developer...So to the point, form over function. Everyone has an opinion on design and this will probably never change, websites and software etc just have to work - don't they?