ARTICLE: There’s a lot of people out there that think the purpose of design is to make things look good, pleasing to the eye. They think it’s like “Fields of Dreams,” if it looks good, they will buy it.
Designers know there is nothing further from the truth. Most people never see or fully grasp the depth of thought and problem-solving that goes into good design.
Daniel Mitev’s “The Mechanics Behind Making Better Design Decisions” is an in-depth, soup to nuts look at how to make the right design decisions and helps you understand why you make those decisions. He explains:
- Intuition vs. strategy: How junior and senior designers decide
- The senior designer’s checklist: 13 questions for better decisions
- Good designers make decisions. Great designers explain them.
There are a lot of variables when designing, what color should a button be, try the latest fad or stay with tried and tested design, the list goes on. Design decisions often masquerade as simple choices. To the UX designer it’s more than just being visual or stylistic, it is the result of a combination of reasoning and research.
Daniel Mitev says,”Design should be a practice of making the complex appear simple. However, that’s not always the case. Making design decisions involves understanding users deeply, aligning with business goals, and working within technical constraints. Thoughtful design doesn’t happen by accident because it’s all engineered.”
This article is a wealth of information, with real-world examples and practical frameworks. It will give you a deeper understanding and enable you to level up your design skills.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
