Actually Useful Design Commentary

Philosophy

A computer is a general-purpose machine: it can do pretty much anything — or at least, software could be created to make it do pretty much anything. Therefore, in theory, a user “entering” an application for the first time must assume that they can do anything in it but then learn very quickly where the application’s limits are. Thus, making software useable is as much about designing what can not be done as it is about designing how to do things.

Christoph Locher, Screen As Room: An Architectural Perspective on User Interfaces

The practice of Design is commonly considered to have emerged during the Industrial Revolution. (p. 24) During this era, the Designer supplanted the craftsperson, whose role was the “hand-making of furniture, tools, pottery or buildings, according to traditional methods and forms”. (p. 25) The craftsperson does not develop new forms, but inherits the ones that have evolved over a long time of subtle modifications. Through the Industrial Revolution the division of labor was introduced. In this process the Designer holds a special role: They are now the only one to consider the item as a whole.

Christoph Locher, Notes from Glenn Parsons’ The Philosophy of Design

Have you been forced to accept compromises?
I don’t remember ever being forced to accept compromises but I have willingly accepted constraints.

What do you feel is the primary condition for the practice of Design and for its propagation?
A recognition of need.

Charles Eames, The Definition of Design

Let me read you The Road to Hell, a series of questions that become more difficulty the deeper you go. The first couple are easy, would you—

  1. Design a package to look larger on the shelf?
  2. Do an ad for a slow-moving, boring film to make it seem like a lighthearted comedy?
  3. Design a crest for a new vineyard to suggest that it’s been in business for a long time?
  4. Design a jacket for a book whose sexual content you find personally repellent?
  5. Design an advertising campaign for a company with a history of known discrimination in minority hiring?
  6. Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
  7. Design a line of T-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labor?
  8. Design a promotion for a diet product that you know doesn’t work?
  9. Design an ad for a political candidate whose policies you believe would be harmful to the general public?
  10. Design a brochure piece for an SUV that turned over more frequently than average in emergency conditions and caused the death of 150 people?
  11. Design an ad for a product whose continued use might cause the user’s death?

Milton Glaser, Ambiguity & Truth

Process

Draft, then polish. When you draft, it is still crucial to get right the key details. The utmost is to stay faithful to the meaning. At the end of the day, both design and writing are ways to communicate. For communication clarity is important, and there are rules to guarantee it. Unclear design, as well as unclear speech, can become dangerous.

Designer as Writer

Practice

I was talking to one usability expert and he was describing how they measure task completion. Did the user press the buttons in the right order? Their ideal app resulted in new users completing tasks 100% of the time. This isn’t exploratory learning. You need to be able to fail and explore the possibility space of a particular tool. Through repeated failure and success, users build up robust skills that can be applied successfully in a wide variety of situations.

Users are not dimwitted Users are not dimwitted monkeys They are intelligent human beings Sure there are monkeys. They are intelligent human beings. Sure, there are limitations, but for the most part we are wired to be problem solvers. Our brains are flooded with lovely chemicals like dopamine and endorphins when we figure something out on our own. That’s fun at it’s heart: Our brains telling us that we grokked something interesting. When you build applications that let users be smart, they love you for it. The secret to good game design is simple. Set up situations where there is a problem that must be solved and let the user solve it. Give them subtle clue, but don’t take away that aha moment.

Building a Princess Saving App



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Info
Published
September 2024
Updated
August 2025
Type
notebook