Design Aesthetics and Sociology

Question:  How much is the quality and value of a design determined by the personal taste of the person currently viewing that design?

This is something I come back to every so often, with the intent to write the ultimate solution to everyone’s problems (humor me for a moment).  But that’s the catch - because there really is no perfect solution to everyone’s taste.  It’s a bit like dill-spear pickles: some people love them, some people hate them.

So, when the creator of the design in question notices that there is a portion of the audience that doesn’t like the work that they’ve created, they are invariably influenced by this group to some degree.  I propose that this is related to the Observer Effect, and will possibly attempt to gain a higher acceptance of the observing audience by making adjustments to their work over time.

Sociology has an interesting role on the web, especially for designers because they create for the specific reason of reaching out to a broader audience than they have before.  They want to appeal to the largest group possible.  Like it or not, the ego is right there in the center, wanting to be involved in just being accepted.  What ends up affecting this is just how greedy the designer gets in how many people they want approval from.  Although it’s impossible to achieve 100% acceptance among your viewers, there are individuals who’s egos will be hurt if less than 50% like what they’ve created.  Others just might not care.

What would you consider to be an acceptable “like-able” ratio from your own audience?  How much are you willing to compromise from “things you like” to “things that everyone else likes”?

Think about these things, and how it might affect your own work.