source: Modern Design Tools: Using Real Data (Jun 15, 2015)
I believe one of the biggest flaws of today’s tools is their failure to allow designers to easily work with real data. Because of this, designers often fill their mocks with idealized information that is anything but representative.
Beautifully composed photos. Perfectly sized bits of text. Just the right amount of content to fit. We spend an inordinate amount of time making our pixel-perfect fabrications. We then make sub-optimal decisions based on this, considering only our single, perfect state. We are surprised when our designs are implemented because we forgot to solve a variety of edge cases and problems. When we don’t work with real data, we deceive ourselves.
Let’s take a look at one way a modern design tool might allow designers to easily and rapidly work with real data.