Lesson 1 What is design?

Why design? What is the purpose of design? It's not just about aesthetics, it's about logic and function. When you start thinking about designing something, you have to think about how to integrate each part in a coordinated way--some people call it "holistic analysis," but I think it's the only practical way to solve design problems.

In Lesson 0, you've learned that design can have a huge impact on people's lives and that all designers need to make sure that the impact is good. In this week's course, you can understand how designers think and design the diversity of theories, which is an overview of design.

Start-up companies, how design works

1. Define

1.1 What is design

Design is the way to solve the problem

This is the simplest definition. Design can be a lot of things that can take effect in many different ways, but the functionality is always the same. Whether it's a design blueprint, a smart user interface, a logo, or a chair--design can help solve visual or physical problems.

1.2 So, what is "good design"?

This is not easy to define. The best designs are notorious for seeming not to have been designed. It would be easier if we took things apart. When you know what you're looking for, when you see it, or when you don't see it, it's easier for you to understand how to define a good design.

1.3 Dieter Rams's "Good Design 10 Commandments"

Dieter Rams is a well-known industrial designer in Germany and has a close relationship with the German home appliance manufacturer Lark (Bleum) and the School of technical design. According to furniture maker Vitsoe: In the early the 1880s, Dieter realised that his design had a big impact on the world, so he asked himself:

"Is my design good?"

Because a good design cannot be measured in a limited way, he begins to develop the 10 principles that he considers a good design should have. (also known as the "Ten Commandments")

Good design is: innovative, practical, beautiful, easy to understand, modest, honest, rugged, meticulous, environmentally friendly, minimalist.

"Our designers don't work in a vacuum," he said. We need business people. We are not the kind of interesting artists we are puzzled by. I think a lot of companies now don't value design. "--Dieter Rams

1.4 An example

Just a smooth and beautiful button or a fine wireframe is not a good design. It is a good design to create a meaningful and thoughtful thing through the sum of these principles.

Just as the lack of professional execution and good business plan can accomplish nothing, if the lack of carefully considered UI or user requirements or other, a superb design prototype what is not.

1.5 is your product a good design?

Look at the product you're doing-are you designing it in an innovative way? Is it practical, easy to understand and graceful? Is it durable, looks outdated, or is damaged within a few years?

These questions are really hard to answer. Designers can create products that allow users to fall in love with these constraints. "Love" is really a very strong emotion.

Dieter ▪ Rams and his contemporaries launched a campaign in 20th century to create simple and beautiful products. Even 60 years ago, design was a valuable aspect of business. The design now has its own place in business-it has been tried and tested.

A wide variety of designs

2.1 Graphic Design

This is a term that describes a range of different kinds of designers. The term "entrepreneur" represents a wide variety of business people-from founders to venture capitalists to ninja leaders-but does not encompass everything. Graphic designers create graphic graphics, including illustrations, print designs, or pictures, on different graphic or online media. Graphic design is rendered primarily by 2D-printed on a physical surface or displayed on the screen.

2.2 Interactive Design

Interactive design, in other words, is focused on the design of digital products and interactive software. These products have web apps like Facebook, Pinterest, mobile apps like Tweetbot, Os X. Graphic design needs people to find out, and interactive design is to help people experience or operate software, with the display interface of hardware to complete a specific task-check the mail, withdraw money from ATM, or a Web page labeled "Collection" (such as this page!)

"The main purpose of interactive design is to meet the needs and desires of users who use the product." ”

User interface Design

The user interface (UI) design is designed to focus on users ' experiences and interactions on software and Web sites. The purpose of the user interface design is to ensure that the user's interactions are as simple and efficient as possible. A good user interface design emphasizes goals and tasks, and focuses more on executing user goals than on the interface itself.

"The design process must balance the technical functions and visual elements to create a system that is not only operable but also adaptable to the changing needs of users." ”

User Experience Design

User experience (UX) design includes psychology, anthropology, sociology, computer science, graphic design, industrial design, and cognitive science. Depending on the purpose of the product, UX may also involve content design disciplines, such as communication design, instructional design, or game design. ”

The purpose of UX design is to create seamless, simple, effective interaction between users and products in software or hardware. The UI and UE collaborate to design interactions that meet user needs or help users achieve their goals.

2.3 Industrial Design

The aim of industrial designers is to create tens of thousands of physical products consumed by the general public. Motorcycles, ipods, toothbrushes, bedside cabinets, etc. are all designed by industrial designers. They are controlled by production lines and machines, physical products and their innovations.

"The purpose of industrial design is to study the function and form, and the relationship between products, users and the environment." ”

Data: What are companies thinking?

3.1 What is the design quality most valued by startups?

I interviewed 78 CEOs, marketers, engineers, designers, and asked them about their views and definitions of design. Before I put my opinion on the findings, I have to verify my hypothesis and get some reasonable data. Entrepreneurs, engineers and designers all seem to have their own ideas.

3.2 How important is product design?

Product design includes digital products and physical products. The product design not only means a graceful appearance, but also includes the function of the product, how the user thinks it should be implemented, and how to accomplish the task simply and quickly.

Think about it: how important is product design to you? How important do you think the graceful shape and convenient use method is to your users?

(Note: Biz business, Marketing Market, Dev Development)

3.3 How deep is the design going to go?

Now we're moving on to a certain level. Good design has taken root in the entrepreneurial culture, and there seems to be a lot of people willing to accept that change. Many entrepreneurs, developers, and engineers see more than just the huge improvement in their products, and most of them think that designers should belong to the founding team.

Founder of Design: a missing link

4.1 Start-up companies + designers =?

For a long time, the co-founders typically included an executive and an engineer. such as Facebook, Microsoft, Apple. These companies now have good designers because the need for them cannot be ignored. On the other hand, design seems to be becoming more common in startups, like Square, Fitbit and Tapbots, and more companies are challenging the limits.

Design has become a key difference in the company's access to investment, media coverage and user focus.

I think it's time to give the market some shock. Let's add the designer to the co-founder group.

Find the best talent

5.1 Below these places can help you to find the outstanding design talented person

5.2 Designer Sacha Greif raised the point of attention on unicorns.

Understand your expectations.

In TNW's excellent article on looking for a designer, Sacha Greif told a cautionary tale. "Hiring a design-focused web designer and a dedicated front-end developer is better than hiring a unicorn (a magical designer who solves all the problems of the company)." As WePay's Abermen says, "When you're looking for a designer, you can't ask a designer to have all the designs." You need to hire visual design, product design, front-end development, and so on. ”

If your budget doesn't hire all the different characters, you can hire a horse and let him grow a corner in his job-hire an excellent visual designer who is willing to learn the front end, or hire an excellent front-end development engineer who wants to improve its design capabilities.