Does great design matter?

As always, it depends. I took an executive class on Innovative Design Thinking. Basically says innovation is tiered from functional innovation -> conceptual innovation -> technical innovation. Design is at the end of that tier (within technical innovation). It's easier to differentiate and market is already established, but the impact is typically significantly smaller than functional/conceptual

Being a designer for the last 4 years I can give you the answer to this question properly Also, we had recently increased the conversion rate of jewelry selling websites by 42% so, I think I understand design more as compared to anyone else.

In one word yes, great design matter a lot but, note my word carefully I said great design don't confuse it with great visuals.

There are lots of people who confuse design with visuals. The reason why you got 150,000 in the first place is because you are solving a problem that's what design is.

Design is all about solving problems not just making pixel-perfect beautiful designs only and I completely agree with your word newcomers shouldn't spend money on making beautiful designs instead they should focus on solving problems and selling their products.

I also wrote an article on this topic if you want to dig more you can check this out: https://www.khadush.com/90-of-client-make-this-mistake-when-they-hire-a-designer-or-a-design-agency/

It does depend on the stage of where your product is, definitely. For example, for BotMeNot, my latest project, I'm putting some very moderate efforts into the design itself.

However, as I'm trying to scale further my largest project - Price2Spy - I'm kinda seeing the importance of design more and more, especially when you have competitors working on it.

Design matters! (kind of)

As usual, this question depends on your product.

Most customers want to see something beautiful. Good design increases trust because it demonstrates expertise and a degree of care that could be assumed to apply to other aspects of the product.

But if you're building a product for indie hackers, we don't really care as long as it works — in fact, we might even like it better. There's a trend happening where people are making super, super simple sites, not out of need, but as a statement. I'm not sure exactly what that statement is. Maybe that simplicity is good. Or maybe that frills are less importance than substance. Either way, it's convenient from a design perspective.

And there's a middle-ground, which I love: Forgo the pretty designs and bring your customers in on the decision. Tell them why you're doing it (i.e. so that you can focus your efforts on product, not flashiness). Customers feel involved and included, which makes them feel invested. And they appreciate that your focus is on what counts most – quality.

Important note: UX design always matters. A lot. I'm specifically talking about UI design here.

I think 'design' means myriad things to myriad people. So, it's important to understand what you mean when you say great. My gut tells me you are referring to great visual design, which there are loads of examples where this is not the case.

However, how something functions does truly matter. If a product helps you do what you need it to do (true for both digital and physical), then how it looks becomes secondary.

The pinnacle of design is where function and the experience are in lockstep; i.e. it works well and it looks wonderful too.

Just imagine this. You've gained over 150,000 users with fair web design. But, what if. Just what if, you tried to focus on your web design and elements today? Imagine the percentage increasing twice or even thrice just for it!

Don't settle for less. Everyone in the internet likes everything pleasing, including how a website is pleasing to look at even with poor products or services.

Well, it depends, can your users see? 😂

When it's all said and done, things can always be better from a design standpoint and there are varying degrees (poor, decent, good, great, you get the point).

With respect to this page, I would ask a couple questions:

What's your bounce rate?

On page time?

CAC?

And lastly, are you stoked with those numbers?

If they're not a place you're happy with, improving design would be an awesome place to start.

If you ARE stoked, be wary of resting on your laurels. There are plenty of devs and big players out there ready to eat your lunch.

Side note:
Is your revenue on IH reflective of that user base?

I think great design doesn't matter too much (for an MVP/ early stage product), but bad design matters a ton.

Design should always be functional, look good and resonate with the target group. It does not have to be pixel perfect or revolutionary or fancy.

No doubt. Great design matters but not just great designs, great user experience (UX). If you have a great design but your users finds it difficult to navigate through the dashboard or finds it difficult to run a simple functionality of your platform, then your great design means nothing. Build a beautiful platform and build an awesome UX rich platform and deliver what you said you will deliver, then see how your customers will start using word of mouth to recommend your platform to their network.

Well i would not say that the Design of your Extension is Bad. It is simple and understandable. Sure it is not as Fancy as some others but it works!

Well,it does matter to a point.

But digging a bit you can come to a conclusion that, is not needed a super high visually pleasing UI, but what it matters the most is the UX.

You can have a visually boring UI,bit a super UX implementation.

Though I would say that even for an MVP, you should have a great UX, but is s not needed to have a 100% visually pleasing UI...

Asan example, many sites founded in Awwwards have cringy UX, some don't even scroll...

Thank you for sharing this. I feel it's mostly the effort spend, that is wrongly allocated. I am working on the landing page of my new project and am uncomfortable to share it in its bare-bone state, even though I know that I have to just get it out there.