While style and aesthetic play a part in design, it’s true value lies in it’s ability to meet the needs of end users with ease and simplicity. Rather than thinking of design as how it looks, think of it as how it works.
If the problem is getting people to interact with something quickly and easily the solution automatically involves making this something accessible and usable. Too often the fact that humans use the items we design is forgotten.
Examples of bad design creating lack of usefulness and accessibility are numerous. Why? This is likely a very complex answer, but at the risk of oversimplifying it, it’s because of a lack of understanding in the mainstream of what good design can accomplish. It’s easy to forget in a world where everyone with a computer has access to hundreds (if not thousands) of fonts and the software to use them that being a designer means more than just creating pretty pictures. The computer and all its parts are simply tools for a designer to utilize in their solution(s) based on their experience, knowledge and interaction (be it education or past projects). Too often designers see themselves as simply making things pretty (partly their own fault and partly a result of being told this over and over).
While it can be said that good design creates good aesthetics or a good visual understanding, truly great design makes a person comfortable and allows them to accomplish what they need efficiently and with ease. If the price of entry is good design, the price of success in a competitive marketplace is great design.
As an integral part of a strategic brand, product and corporation, design must be executed and conceived critically in order to assist in generating revenue and make a more interesting, useful experiences for people. Only then can design truly advance to being great for business.
Design is not an option anymore, it’s a necessity for innovation, awareness, accessibility and usefulness (to name a few). Without great design the possibility of failure is much greater.
This entry was written by , posted on May 25, 2009 at 10:34 pm, filed under regular. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.