Good Design is Good Business
“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.”- Don Norman
What actually a Good design is? Does it even make any difference if we are using good or bad design while designing our products? How to perceive design as good or bad?Is everything that is beautiful and pretty be defined as good design?
At the start of my journey of becoming a UX designer , I had lot of such questions in my mind. In an attempt to understand and illustrate what makes our experience good or bad, I analysed few things from our everyday lives. After this activity, my whole perspective at looking things has changed. I used to blame my ignorance on not getting the usage procedures right ; now I know that if user is unable to use the product intuitively then there is a design flaw in the product.
This coffee mug seems to be so funky and unique to look at but can we drink coffee without stabbing eyes …..grrrr….example of bad design…..
This is a stabilizer that I purchased online but I was quite upset with the design as couldn’t use it to plug my 3 pins …..example of bad design.
This is a RO filter and thanks to its design that I can multitask now….don’t have to hold and wait for bottles to fill …. :)
I love fresh sweet lime juice but couldn’t make it at home because of complexity of design of jars accompanied with food processors ….a heck lot of work of cleaning :(……but this juicer in spite of being manual comes so handy and usable and above all easy to clean….thanks to its design ….
These are only a few of the examples that we come across in our day to day life.
So , what we infer about Good design now is :
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like ; design is how it works. A good design is user-oriented, has usability goals, characteristics, and it should be so natural that it can go unnoticed. Design is process of visualising your thinking.
Good design is the one that fills the gap between business goals and user needs. It should follow a process involving UX design principles and practices. The designer should empathise and advocate users wants and needs while designing for them.
In this age of competition, companies only have a matter of seconds before a customer makes up their mind.Those few seconds are crucial because they can make or break a sale — and design plays a huge role in the deciding factor. Good design helps in making a business stand out.
If you think Good design is expensive ; you should look at the cost of Bad design.
Thanks for reading :)
