{"id":6711,"date":"2016-09-14T17:20:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T17:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/?p=6711"},"modified":"2019-11-28T11:24:19","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T11:24:19","slug":"as-little-design-as-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/as-little-design-as-possible","title":{"rendered":"As little design as possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dieter<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cGood design is as little design as possible.\u201d
\n\u2014 Dieter Rams<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dieter Rams is famous for changing the world of consumer electronics, by proving that mass produced items can \u2013 and should \u2013 be thoughtfully designed.<\/p>\n

In his Ten Principles of Good Design<\/em> he outlined the commandments designers should obey to produce better products. Each principle is easy to agree with, but one that has really stuck out to me recently has been number ten: \u201cGood design is as little design as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what does Rams \u2013 a product designer, a man who has designed everything from electronic razors to shelving systems \u2013 have to do with software product design?<\/p>\n

Rams\u2019s principles can easily be applied to the world of software.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t reinvent the wheel<\/h2>\n

\"to<\/p>\n

Design paradigms in both hardware and software exist for a reason \u2013 they drive the way a user expects to use your product.<\/p>\n

When a user first sees your product, they will instantly start making assumptions about what all the different components of the interface do. What\u2019s a button? What\u2019s clickable? What do they expect to happen when they interact with various components? If any part of the interface disagrees with their assumptions, they then have to stop and think and process how to use it.<\/p>\n

Unless you have an extremely popular app or platform with millions of users, you\u2019ll struggle to change these base paradigms, so instead you should embrace them and make them work for you.<\/p>\n

If you really do find a concept that can\u2019t be expressed within existing paradigms, then you need to make sure your users don\u2019t end up wasting their time trying to think through it. Make it easy to discover, easy to learn, and easy to remember so the user doesn\u2019t have to concentrate hard every time they use that feature.<\/p>\n

Nine times out of ten you can borrow concepts from existing components, and avoid introducing something entirely custom and home-baked.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t build what you don\u2019t need<\/h2>\n

\"Swiss<\/p>\n

Often when you set out to build a new feature you can overthink the requirements and design more functionality than you actually need. Focus first on the problem and the customer and think about what\u2019s essential.<\/p>\n

Chances are you can implement the feature without designing anything on the computer \u2013 you may be able to sketch out your ideas and collaborate with an engineer to build the first prototype, before you establish what\u2019s important and what doesn\u2019t need to be built at all.<\/p>\n

The fewer features you have, the fewer moving parts there are. And when you iterate on your product, the fewer moving parts you have, the less there is to go wrong.<\/p>\n

Decide what\u2019s important<\/h2>\n

\"Prioritisation<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing how much easier it is to design a screen or a feature, when you\u2019re clear on what\u2019s important. Well-designed interfaces and screens are usually born out of simplifying a feature conceptually<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bad features<\/a>, on the other hand, are usually the result of minimal consideration for the end user or for what they\u2019re actually trying to achieve when they use your product.<\/p>\n

If you have a screen with five different possible paths and actions, then the screen can easily become overwhelming, but it doesn\u2019t need to be. The best screens usually follow a simple, learnable structure and take you down an obvious and logical course of action.<\/p>\n

When the structure is obvious, you can afford to spend less time on aesthetics and more time on making the feature bulletproof. <\/p>\n

Avoid maintenance costs<\/h2>\n

\"Features<\/p>\n

The less you design and the less you build, the less you have to maintain.<\/p>\n

Cutting down the number of custom-designed screens in your product not only means your users have less to learn and you have less to build, but it\u2019ll pay off for months to come \u2013 you have less to maintain down the road.<\/p>\n

Having fewer features and screens to maintain means your product team can focus on what\u2019s important \u2013 pushing forward with new and improved functionality, rather than wasting time getting bogged down in keeping existing parts of the product up-to-date.<\/p>\n

Steal good ideas<\/h2>\n

\"Picasso<\/p>\n

Often companies will be criticised for copying or stealing ideas from others. While plagiarism is not a noble goal, there are often sources of inspiration already out there that can help form the foundations of a new idea.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cGood artists copy, great artists steal.\u201d
\n\u2013 Steve Jobs, Pablo Picasso, T. S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Even the famous quote \u201cgood artists copy, great artists steal\u201d has itself been copied and stolen over time, and is attributed to many different people throughout history. If someone has already expressed your meaning and intentions as well as possible, then you don\u2019t necessarily need to do anything differently just for the sake of being different.<\/p>\n

Design less, but better<\/h2>\n

The beauty of designing less is it frees you up to focus your energy and effort onto fewer things that likely need your input more. Next time you\u2019re working on a new piece of functionality, think about what really needs your design input, and what\u2019s already been solved for you.<\/p>\n

Image of Dieter Rams courtesy of Vitsoe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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