Good Design Is Invisible; Bad Design Is Everywhere

What comes to your mind when I say the word “DESIGN”? A logo, poster, or visual that describes something? Or a sketch, model, diagram, or drawing? Today we won’t be talking about the types of designs. We will talk about the designs you probably use every single day that go unnoticed. Designs that are experienced, not seen.

”As human beings, we have limited brain power. And so our brains encode the everyday things we do into habits so we can free up space to learn new things”, says the design guru Tony Fadell. This process of habituation, applies to the designs around us as well.

Suppose, the font used on the road signs all over the state are replaced with a font similar to this. No one would be able to read the directions at fast moving speed. They would get confused and probably lost, and would complain about the awful design these road signs have. But, to this very date, no one praises the designers of these road signs who gave us an intuitive design, no one.

Moreover, objects like a calendar, book, and pencil are all designed, and we just take them for granted as any other object making our life easier. A one-year-old child would hold a pencil the very first time and scribble somewhere. No one taught that little kid how to use it, but the design is so intuitive that it leads to a natural act. Now you must be wondering why you never thought about how well designed a pencil was. Right?

In this digital era, as designers, it is our job to create something that provides such an experience to people. It is our job to design from where the users are, not where we are. Accessibility, performance and intuitiveness are all major features.

Take for example, the tiny little innocent Facebook “Like” button. It’s one of the single most viewed design elements, seen over 22 billion times a day existing over 7.5 million websites, as Facebook reports. Imagine the impact of a poorly designed major change to this button. Two years ago, the designers at Facebook spent nearly over 280 hours in a major redesigning of this button in a course of months when they decided to sync it with the evolution of their brand.

When you are designing a major change at this scale, you need to get every pixel right. As this is a prime example of a good design, tiny changes to it might go unnoticed by an average user as experiencing it has become a habit, but if it is a major one, it has to be pixel perfect as you’re designing for the world.

A good design aims at making life better and evoking emotion. If it is not simple and intuitive, it will become the talk of the day and either result in users getting used to it with time (if you’re lucky), or may simply be rejected. An average user goes online to experience the web, have fun, connect with people and gain knowledge, and if their concentration is diverted to how an element is placed on the interface, your design needs re-work.

Wrap up

Design should help people and be a silent ambassador to your business. Good designs are those that go unnoticed, that are experienced, that are invisible; bad designs are everywhere and stand out like a sore thumb. That was our take on #WhatIsDesign. What is yours? Tweet your opinion to us @cygnismedia.

Enjoyed the article? Check out our top 5 picks for the best social media campaigns in 2015 so far.