When you’re talking about companies with a certain design philosophy it never takes long for a company like Apple to pop up in the conversation, which they did in the comments of his post.
But why is a company like Apple touted as being so great at design?
Giving it more thought I’ve boiled it down to one key thing. If you strip away the gloss and marketing, they design with a clear point of view.
Good design always has a point of view — a philosophy that drives it. If the point of view is hard to follow and adopt, the design may fail. But if it lacks one altogether it can only ever be satisfactory at best. Design without a point of view leaves it up to the user. This sounds like it should be the most sensible approach to design, but I’d argue that it is actually a cop out.
Apple products think they know best. A lot of the time, they very well might. This is the reason (in part) why they tend to polarise people. Whether you like them or hate them they do a great job of educating their users into adopting their point of view.
But if we consider the alternative — a product that offers limitless options, powerful settings, endless control, you’re left with a product that’s really only half-way there.
Good design doesn’t just facilitate, it directs, leads and decides. It makes tough decisions that risk polarising people. When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.
What are your experiences of design with / without a point of view?
—Published 05 April, 2009