Let’s design with friction (and human-centered).
One thing that can ruin my professional concentration these days is whenever someone in the digital design Industry (my turf) uses human-centered design to coin their genuinely unique design approach and belief. I can hear them say it, but I’m becoming deaf to it.
Think about it. Is it possible these days to find an agency or designer that does not explicitly claim that what sets them apart from the rest of the pack is their human-centered design approach? What I hear is an ocean of strategic designers addressing the same individual perspectives in one big choir. But it becomes a generic tune.
Let me clarify: The human-centered design approach is wonderful, vital, and would-not-live-without-it. But, is has become a generic driver, and it’s not a differentiator. Something is rotten in the state of design. Placed in the Kano Model (by Professor Noriaki Kano), it has moved from being a “delighter” to a fully implemented “baseline expectation” in the design landscape.
I would never buy a pair of jeans based on them being designed human-centered. But damn, I love that they’re designed in a way that enables the waistline to expand so that I can easily put my pants on. Halleluja.
Human-centered design is excellent
From a broader perspective, design has a strong and long history of being human-centered. It has almost been 100 years since the stem of Modernism started to appear. Designers all around the world found a common path in designing with rationality, functionality, and a no-hassle attitude as their dogmas. Functionality was more important than ornaments and add-ons for designers like Mies van der Rohe, Kenzo Tange, Alvar Aalto, and Arne Jacobsen.
The approach was later brought forward by designers like Dieter Rams. Dieter Rams formulated 10 Design Principles, and they beautifully underpinned the value of human-centered design, without him using human-centered design as a term. Some of his principles are “Good design makes a product understandable,” “Good design makes a product useful,” and “Good design is unobtrusive.”
The results of the modernistic designers, their successors, and their shared beliefs are the stunning objects we still rightfully treasure to this day.
On the backdrop of history, it’s evident that human-centered design is not new as a craft. It is as a specific term, it is relatively new and (as I state above) already generic. But why do we use it then? Well, as Design by Howell points out his article, “All design is Human Centred Design, it’s just not always any good.” it’s a matter of language and understanding. The benefit of everyone using the phrase Human-centered is that it materializes into a ‘real thing’ everyone can talk about. In other words, we use it because we’ve used it before and over time have established it as a term. In the world of business, it gives designers a seat at the table. It makes the abstractness of design seem graspable. It has a process, you can create slides about it, it’s sellable. It also makes businesses believe that anyone is a designer. Well, anyone might be — just not necessarily a good one (let’s talk about this another time).
Like it or not, the phrase “Human-centered design” is an overused, generic buzz. But it is as essential as ever as a platform for designers to build products and brands with longevity.
Good design is not only human-centered
To build products and brands with longevity today, we can not only design human-centered. The projected result of only designing human-centered is for me a world without frictions, a world full of white-label solutions, where one size fits many. Sure, things shouldn’t be designed to be complicated, but nothing scares me more than a frictionless world.
I’m cheering for a renaissance of frictions, of ornaments and decorations in design. Be a little obtrusive. Frictions make us think and wonder. They force us to pause, they spark curiosity — they put a smile on our faces. Therefore, frictions are the building blocks of stickiness. They give personality.
Human-centered design is a way to form an experience, and great design manages to weave a story into that experience to make it truly unique and to give it personality. Nick Law (formerly knows as R/GA powerhouse now Vice President of Marcom Integration at Apple) focuses on this: finding the balance between “stories and system.” I see a growing demand for designers and design agencies with the ability to do that, using human-centered design as a springboard. Designers, therefore, need to work closely with other creators, who know the skill and value of telling stories. Stories are filled with frictions, with ornaments and decorations. Halleluja (again).
Airbnb works like this in how they design their platform. One example is the absence of an automated ‘key drop’ or ‘key exchange’ feature. Seen from a convenience angle, this would be easier in so many ways, it would feel more effortless. Seen from Airbnb’s perspective, they want people to meet face to face to build an understanding of a community. They have used their brand values (story) as a design principle for the experience they’re developing, even though it is not the most carefree experience. The friction makes it an Airbnb design.
Another example comes from HAN Kjøbenhavn, who has translated its brand story into how their e-commerce solution looks and feels. (I’m biased here as we have worked with HAN on that exact task). The experience of buying online at www.hankjobenhavn.com is shaped by, and are in line with, the history and the stories they generally tell as a fashion brand. The result stands out, it has personality, and the experience has frictions. The friction makes it a HAN Kjøbenhavn design.
In the name of marrying “Stories and Experiences” to design with friction (and human-centered), I’ll add these pointers to the design principles of Dieter Rams and his predecessors:
Design friction back.
Design distinct tastes.
Design to put a smile on someone’s face.
Don’t believe any hype that simplifies the complexity of being a designer (okay, maybe this shouldn’t go here, but I still believe it to be necessary).
Thank you for taking a ride down this thought pattern of mine. Please share any reflection or example that can help me broaden my perspective and /or quest of contributing to a renaissance of frictions, of ornaments and decorations in design.
Links, sources, inspiration, etc.:
Design by Howell
All design is Human Centred Design, it’s just not always any good.
Steve Selzer
The Fiction of No Friction
Amar Chadgar
Dieter Rams and the Relevance of Functionalism
Jorge Soto
Dieter Rams: 10 principles of Good Design in a digital world
Selena Schleh
The Way I See It: Nick Law
