Design doesn’t add value. Part 4: When the rule stops working
In previous articles
Design doesn’t add value — a rule that helps avoid unnecessary effects and embellishment.
According to the rule, design builds on a product and makes the product values clear. So, if a design technique helps to explain product values, it is useful. If the technique isn’t related to the product and exists solely because it looks cool, it will distract from the product.
Design doesn’t add value. Part 1
Design adds value—if design is the product itself
The Windows interface design doesn’t tell a story about a laptop. It is a product by itself, and this product has its own value.
There is a difficulty. It might be hard to define where it’s a design that tells about a product and where it’s a design that is the product itself.
MacOS interface design is a product. But the way it looks—icons, the transparency effect, colors in the interface—tells a story about the MacBook, the same as the way this MacBook looks itself. It is an expensive laptop for productive work.
How not to get confused
Follow the logic and find the right question.
Follow the logic. Imagine a logical path from an idea to the design. For example, in MacOS the menu is at the bottom of the screen:
The logical path would be:
Idea—a notebook that helps work faster
→ Interface that doesn’t distract from work
→ Menu at the bottom for an easy aim
Find the right question. Try to apply these to questions to the logical path: “How to do it?” and “How to tell about it?”. If the “How to do it?” works, it’s a design that is a product itself:
Idea — a notebook that helps work faster
−(How to do it?)→ Interface that doesn’t distract from work
−(How to do it?)→ Menu at the bottom for an easy aim
If the “How to tell about it?” fits—it’s a design that tells a story about a product. It doesn’t add value, only shows the product’s value:
Idea — a notebook that helps work faster
−(How to do it?)→ Interface that doesn’t distract from work
−(How to tell about it?)→ Menu looks like glass. It’s a metaphor. The interface is transparent, so it doesn’t distract from work
Why do we like how certain things look?
There might be many answers. My hypothesis—we like expressive things. It’s a principle that works for any kind of visual display of information: a poster, a painting, a city map, or an anime clip.
The next article is about expressiveness.
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