Design is the solid execution of inspired ideas to solve real problems. Design creates efficiency and provides pleasure, it involves the mindset, practices, and tactics to create the perfect product. As a designer and leader, I care deeply about quality, usefulness, and enjoyment that can be derived from the products my team builds.
Design has two major elements:
- Efficiency – Make products that get more done with less effort and reduce the friction needed to use the product.
- Delight – Provide pleasure while using a product.
Almost all design pursuits lead back to these two goals. Customer-focused companies will leverage these two approaches to solve customer problems and build trust with their customers over a long period of time. Design-focused companies will also use these two approaches to make products of great beauty, by emphasizing the goodness that comes from intentional aesthetics mixed with simple and friction-free use. Business and sales-led companies leverage these two concepts to sell more of the product, perhaps with a bit of extra emphasis on how great it would be to use the product yourself or at your company with the hope of enticing you to buy their products, or by simply showing that their product is useful.
If you have a product that has a purpose to accomplish a task, then you fall into group one – efficiency design. If you have a product with a purpose to engage users and bring joy, then you fall into group two which is creating delight. Tools for work are generally designed to make tasks more efficient. Experiences created to entertain are generally concerned with the journey of using the product and creating moments that people feel and enjoy.
Be visionary, forget about constraints, dismiss limits, and go beyond the barriers that confine your imagination.
Charley Ames