Have you noticed how good design solves a problem and is usually quite noticeable? Great design, on the other hand, seamlessly integrates into the user experience, becoming almost invisible. 👏🏼🎉
This leads to the paradox of good design, which I contemplated a while ago.
In other words, great design fades into the background, letting the user focus on the purpose or task at hand rather than the design itself.
This could be one of the reasons why there are so many unrecognised good designers.
“It’s somehow paradoxical that one of the most important characteristics of a good design, its unobtrusiveness, renders it harder to notice or appreciate.”
– Martin
Good design is somehow invisible, which contributes to the common perception of design as a discipline that is somehow unimportant or easy to do. It’s somehow paradoxical that one of the most important characteristics of a good design, its unobtrusiveness, renders it harder to notice or appreciate.
Bad design, on the contrary, because it is more noticeable and easier to spot, gets associated with design as a profession, contributing to the more critical view of design as a useful discipline.
“Pride comes before the fall. Remember, the lack of confidence is your enemy, but so is overconfidence. “
The best way to design amazing product is to stay curious and keep your ego at bay. Always ask questions when unsure, be inquisitive, and don’t assume that you know everything that needs to be known because most likely you don’t.
“Any understanding of the world is incomplete. Be open to new interpretations and perspectives as it can help you to move beyond existing solutions.“
Philosophers are well aware that any understanding of the world is incomplete. As a product designer, I like to remind myself of this simple truth about our world, especially when reviewing older research findings or design solutions.
We need to embrace change and adapt as new information and perspectives emerge. We should question the key decisions from the past and challenge the existing solutions when they stop making sense. It could be that circumstances have changed, and what was a sensible solution before is no longer the one.
“I believe that it is our duty to help create products that promote the welfare of all people, not only users of our products but also non-users of our products who might be impacted by our creations, including future generations, animals, plans, and ecosystems.“
You can call me naive or idealist, but I’m convinced that we should design holistically, consider the interconnectedness of complex systems, and always mitigate the negative impact of our creations.
It is our duty, as designers, to promote the welfare of all people through designs that are inclusive and holistically thought-through.
My thinking is inspired by the philosophy of utilitarianism, which I believe is the most rational approach for ensuring the long-term survival of our species.
“Feedback, either explicit or implicit, delivered through affective feedback loops, is our most powerful design tool.“ 🤔
Collecting feedback is an essential part of what we do as designers 🧑🏻💻 It is our way of discovering what works for our customers and what doesn’t 👍🏼👎🏼
We should always listen to our customers, but they don’t need to always know that we are listening to them when collecting feedback.
There are different ways how we can collect feedback:
we can observe our customers going about their business (implicit feedback),
or we can ask them specific questions allowing them to express themselves verbally (explicit feedback).
Remember: It is usually the combination of these two methods that yields the best results 👍🏼
It’s important to remember that Elon Musk, for all his achievements, is still a human being like anyone else. Just because he’s been successful in business doesn’t mean he’s infallible or always right.
I agree with some of his ideas, and I think he’s done an incredible job popularising technology and moving some concepts forward—electric cars, for example, or a brain-computer interface. But that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the hyperbole and marketing theatrics he often engages in. Some of his claims venture into territory that brushes up against the limits of what’s currently possible—if not outright contradicting the laws of known physics, like the Hyperloop or the idea of colonising Mars.
While I understand the curiosity and ambition that drive his vision of the future, I also believe that any rational, critically thinking person should approach dreaming about the future with a healthy dose of skepticism. Elon Musk is not an exception. So when he behaves as if he were, I lose trust in him.
If we go to Mars simply out of scientific curiosity, that’s fine. In fact, I’d take the exploration of space any time over spending billions of dollars on wars and meaningless destruction. But the notion of finding a second home for humanity on Mars strikes me as deeply flawed.
It’s a romantic idea, but not a realistic one. The energy and resources it would take to make Mars even remotely habitable are staggering—and that’s before considering the psychological, biological, and technological challenges. Rather than seeing it as an escape plan, we should focus on fixing and preserving the planet we already have.
