What is the essence of design?

Uzi Shmilovici, founder and CEO of Future Simple, wrote an article about the core issues that should be concerned with design. We compile the article below for your reference.

Good design, but user experience is the most important. The Design of Path 2.0 is excellent, but from the perspective of the author, there are no users in the Path. I personally say that I have used it only twice, there are few people who use Path around them (of course, his feelings do not necessarily represent everyone ). This is like the clothes on fashion shows. Everyone appreciates them, but few people will wear them.

Only good looking is not enough. In the final analysis, it depends on the user experience.

Today's so-called web design is not really a design, but a patchwork of styles, pixel colors, and so on. The real design must solve the problem. The real design must be more comprehensive and deeper than just a bit of PS. we should devote ourselves to creating a well-thought-out and fascinating user experience. Then let the aesthetic design be icing on the cake.

As a result, successful internet companies use a pragmatic design. You can check the websites of Facebook, Google, and Amazon, they focus on creating an excellent experience to please users and bring additional value.

The Design of Instagram is quite practical. Although it is not as sexy as the Path, it makes the process of taking photos and sharing simple and pleasant. This is enough.

Why does Wesabe lose to Mint?

The personal financial management website Wesabe was founded 10 months earlier than the similar Mint, but it was defeated in the end. Why? Its CEO Marc Hudlund wrote a reflection article. The length is long, but the main points are as follows:

I focus on improving the availability and ease of use of data editing as much as possible, while Mint focuses on how to make it happen without editing.

That is to say, what Mint does is to introduce all your data and then automatically organize it for you. This is the poison on the arrow. Finding this poison is the core work of a real designer.

How does Dropbox stand out from the fierce competition?

The author talked about how they felt when they recommended Dropbox to a designer friend. The other party is surprised. Dropbox uses an old icon style like web history: FamFamFam. From the design point of view, it is really bad. However, from the perspective of the essence of design, Dropbox was really talented, even though they didn't have any designers at the time.

Put a folder on your desktop. OK. Although there are so many technologies and functions hidden behind the screen, it does not matter. Put a folder there is enough. This is the poison of Dropbox.

Design myth

What is the essence of design? Instead of looking for a cool palette, or looking for gray-scale and shadow effects, it is not creating a dazzling effect with its own characteristics. These things cannot be overwhelming, the essence of design is to create a fascinating killer user experience. To become a killer, you must find the poison on the arrow you want to shoot.