More Than Just Making Things Look Good

I've always enjoyed the creative side of technology. Working with images, choosing colors, designing layouts, and watching something come together on the screen.

There's a certain satisfaction in looking at a finished design and thinking, "That looks pretty good!"

But somewhere along the way, I discovered something just as important.

It also has to work for the person using it.

That became especially meaningful during my time at McKesson.

I had the opportunity to design, develop, and lead the web-based interface work for an application used in hospitals to support medication administration through barcode technology and wireless handheld devices.

Quite a change from creating graphics and websites!

This wasn't just about designing something visually appealing. Healthcare professionals needed to interact with the application as part of their work.

And that meant the interface had to be functional, understandable, and practical.

I was working with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSP, and application frameworks to bring the interface together.

What I enjoyed was the combination of creativity and technical problem-solving. I wasn't simply deciding how something should look. I was also involved in building how it worked.

And that experience helped reinforce something I'd started learning earlier in my career.

Good design has a purpose.

Whether it's a website, an application, or an email, someone on the other end needs to understand it and be able to use it.

I've always enjoyed making things look good.

But there's something even more satisfying about knowing you've helped make something useful.

Because good design isn't just about what people see. It's about what they can do with it.

Next in the series: Chapter 5 — How I Found My Way Into Email Marketing.