"I don't know design..." Part One

When I hear people say  "they don't know what good design is", I often think, "yes you do, you just don't know you do." But when people use the basis for qualification in sweeping terms as  as "like and dislike", the validation of design success is placed surely in the camp of personal opinion. From that perspective it is hard to talk about and validate designs.

But there are some fundamental parameters of design that can help even the most unlikely person craft a more informed opinion on what great design really is. Here are some initial principals to consider.

When evaluating design:

1. Form Follows Function: The aesthetic beauty of a system should always be secondary to the intended function of a system. Additionally the absence of ornamentation directly correlates to the purity of function and the beauty of the system.

2.  The Five W's: Does the design serve to answer the fundamental questions of  who, what where, why and when?

3. The 80/20 rule: The most important functions, controls or usage of the design system occur within the top 20% percent of the total system. In short all designs have a hiearchy where the most important features and function are clearly designated and a small number of the total features available.

4. Accessibility: Systems should be designed to be used by as many people as possible within the target audience. The design must be able to be perceived by all, as usable regardless of physical abilities,  as simple, without  complexity, and allow forgiveness when errors occur.

5. Aesthetic-usability Effect: Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use. Aesthetic designs foster positive attitudes towards the system or product.

6. Affordance: An object or system should be designed to correspond with the use of it within its environment. Example: Designing for mobile screens? Then you need to consider  a wide variety of ambient light that will effect the devices visual luminance and clarity.

7.Chunking: Combining many units of information into a smaller number of information so that information can be perceived and remembered quicker and easier.

8. Color: Design can use color for a variety reasons. Conisder the fact that color can attract attention, group like elements, enhance aesthetics and represent meaning.

9. Consistency: In a usable design system consistency is critical for communicating relationships, like-minded functionality and a platform for people to quickly understand new contexts, succeed in learning, and focus on relevant tasks or functions.

10. Depth of Processing: Systems and information that take more time to digest are retained easier.