Learning Product Design

Being a good designer is more a way of thinking than a way of drawing. It’s not just about making things pretty—it’s about making them work better.

Design is such a powerful word. It means everything and so means nothing. And our practice of design really was the whole thing. Ultimately, it was your experience. From the very founding ideas of what the product is and what it does and how it’s architected and how it’s built—its appearance is just one small part of the whole thing.

Good design takes time and effort, but the time used to understand and clarify a design is not wasted. While design takes time to get it right, it will lead to a more efficient product and ultimately save time for the users of the product or service. Even though a small group of designers may spend a few months carefully thinking about the product,

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Design is hope made visible.

You can live your life as the result of history and what came before, or you can live your life as the cause of what’s to come. You choose.

When talent doesn’t hustle, hustle beats talent. But when talent hustles, watch out.

When you work only for money, without any love for what you do in and of itself, your work will lac... See more

have no training in design, I have only ideas and opinions.

My design approach is rooted in two principals:

1. Things that make sense please me.

2. Things that are beautiful please me.

Sometimes those are the same thing, and sometimes they are not (which can be a source of great displeasure).

Context, problem-solving, gestures, pleasure—these topic... See more

Even when doing concept work, you often need to focus your efforts. The design concept should feel like an exciting evolution of the product. A redesign should not completely disassemble the product to its atomic parts. While you might have ambitious goals, you also have to be realistic and manage risks.

Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks.

But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.