In a recent project I was on, I had to catch myself fighting for my point of view, partly, just because it was my point of view. This can have a negative effect on the project and on your reputation as a designer.

This conversation was about the classic argument of which button should be first, the OK or the Cancel. There is already excellent research and opinion out there. So I won’t repeat here.

In this particular case, it could have worked equally well either way. 50% of the research shows users like it this way and the other 50% like it the other way. 100% complete the task in the same time, etc. Why argue, when either way works? Choose your battles.

Save your reputation and headache and argue for design decisions that will have a greater affect on the user experience. Save your battles for when the research returns 60%, 70% or 80% of users showing preference. And always have research to back up your decisions. So you don’t come off as “artsy-fartsy” (personal experience). As a tactical note, if you had just won a battle over 50/50, it might be harder to win the next one that is 70/30 or 80/20.

When working on a team this also shows that you are able to compromise and are easy to work with (which can carry you a lot farther sometimes than if you are right or wrong).