Never underestimate the importance of design

We never cease to be amazed at how many of our clients will have very clear ideas on the functionality of their software applications and websites, but consider design an afterthought. Worse, they might think of design as ‘making it pretty’.

But think about it: why do you make a software application? Who is your website meant for? Whatever it is that you do, in the end it’s people that will have to use it. A pleasant, user-friendly design is the factor that most influences their experience and thus your success.

Our design first approach

With Next Door Digital, design comes first. This is the reason we don’t work with templates and out-of-the-box CMS systems. What our clients, marketers and designers think of is exactly what we’ll build, without compromise. Your project is too important to be guided or limited by the specific properties of your technical solution. What you need is world class design and smart marketing, which requires custom development so that you can set yourself apart from the competition.

Split testing

One way in which web based technology is great, is because of its ability to split test design and usability choices. Which colors work best for a landing page? What message or image on a social media post draws the most eye balls? We believe that success in design and marketing comes from following your intuition first, but then sharpen it by testing. Apply this principle consistently, and soon you’ll be unbeatable.

Less is more

When it comes to usability, we believe that less is more. For this reason, we go to great lengths to get fewer options in our interfaces and reduce the number of choices for end users. That sounds counterintuitive, but users are the happiest when everything they need is there, and nothing else. That is our specialty. This means that any feature you don’t need, we’ll take out. We believe that’s the key to an excellent user experience. And don’t worry - if you later find you do need certain functionality, we’ll put it right back in.

If you’d like to see some recent examples of work we have done, just get in touch.

Comprehensive service contracts

We believe that good design and usability, like branding, are all about consistency. That’s where our comprehensive service contract (CSC) comes in. It’s like having your own design, marketing and development team, in the know about your branding principles, your applications, your marketing, your values and design style, for exactly the number of hours as you need us. By having one point of contact for all this, you can ensure quality and consistency and save money to boot.

If you like to know more, just let us know.