Seinfeld’s 3 secrets for creative success


2 Minutes

What’s the deal with creativity? In a rare podcast interview, Jerry Seinfeld shared what he believes are the three key steps to being successful in any creative field. While these can be applied to joke writing, they’re also relevant to producing stellar websites.

Sometimes I think more creativity is put into muffin recipes than into the rest of society combined.

Jerry Seinfeld

Enough of the preamble. Let’s cut to the chase.

1. Inspiration

Before getting started, it’s important to lock down the objectives and specifics. What’s the tone of voice? What’s the feeling or vibe that will inspire the design direction? What can we do to make this digital experience stand out? Better for users? More intuitive? With these questions answered, an overall vision starts to take shape, and moving on to step 2 is much easier.

2. Execution

This one’s pretty self-explanatory; you obviously have to do the work.

But sometimes creative professionals can get so wrapped up in planning, that execution becomes secondary. And that’s really the most important part, the doing.

This stage is the opportunity to explore, make mistakes, try things out, and get it right. Sketches, scribbled notes, and wireframes are all timesavers and great places to start. Then it’s about following through.

Seinfeld says that most people stop after step 2, so we must press on…

3. Obsessive Detail

If you ever get the chance to see Seinfeld perform live, you’ll notice there are nuances and calculations to his performance. Every word, the phrasing, the well-timed pauses are all carefully, yet naturally coordinated.

With a website, the subtle details can take it to the next level. Animations, page transitions, microcopy, and streamlined navigation can elevate the user experience. Bonus: Obsessive Testing.

Bonus: Obsessive Testing

Just as a comedian tries out new material before bringing it to a larger audience, we extensively test our web projects before launch. Browser testing, multiple device testing and user testing all help us make small refinements that drastically improve the final product.