Form or Function Product UI

Products with great functionality and strong form/design are often the most successful, but they don’t usually start out that way. For many entrepreneurs, especially with B2B products, getting the function right should precede getting the form right. The idea is that you want to solve the problems as efficiently as possible, even if the UI isn’t as nice as it could be done with more resources or time. Some entrepreneurs attempt to get the design right before users are even on the system. Users are oxygen for the product and need to be part of the design and feedback process so that it isn’t built in a vacuum.

Here are some ideas when thinking about product form and function:

• Function needs to come before form
• Form is important for B2B products, and even more so for B2C
• More and more enterprise products are taking UI inspiration from B2C web apps
• Consumer web apps are raising the design bar for business apps
• It is often more difficult to find front-end product designers that back-end developers

Product form and function are difficult to do well but function is more important. Form takes a special talent with a graphical eye as well as strong user experience understanding.

What else? What are some other ideas when thinking about product form and function?