Design ethos

Design ethos

Below are some of the philosophies and guiding principles about design and product that I have picked up throughout my career. Some are mine, and some are borrowed interpretations of the many before me.

• Design is the understanding of a problem and the context in which it lives, expressed through an interface. A design's goodness is, then, dependent on the depth of understanding.
• The best designs are the ones that meet the level of user accommodation the context in which they live requires.
• Products are discovered as they are built.
• Trust is a function of expectation management.
• Markets are extraordinarily efficient at finding truth. The market for experience is no different.
• The medium determines the attention and level of focus a user will bring to something. You can read on Twitter and in a book, but the attention type that is brought varies greatly.
• Leaning into a user's inclination is always easier than trying to change it.
• Decisions move at the speed of information.
• The world is in a constant push toward homogeny.
• SpongeBob is a trend line of culture.