Jon Daiello’s Post

Principles of Product and Service Design for Businesses and Organizations The goal of any design is to improve human experience. Designers must ensure that human interaction with a product is seamless and enhances the user experience. Once, while waiting in line at a bank, I noticed a woman struggling to enter through a door. People were laughing as she struggled until a guard came to her aid. Instead of joining in, I analyzed the situation: Could the engineers have done better? What assumptions informed the door’s design? I saw an instruction that read, “Press the button,” but it was clear she couldn’t read it. This made me realize the designers likely assumed all users would be literate. However, a better design could have considered visual and motor cues—like an icon showing someone pressing a button or an indicator suggesting “pressability.” The design was at fault, not the user. Organizations, whether producing goods or providing services, need to understand human psychology. Here are key design principles: 1. Principle of Cognitive Simplicity: Designs shouldn’t be overly complex. Complicated websites can frustrate users. Simplify interactions with icons or voice prompts when there’s too much information. 2. Affordance Principle: Designs should guide actions without specialized knowledge. I shouldn’t need to be an engineer to use a washing machine. Products should intuitively indicate their functionality—like graspability for handles or turnability for knobs. 3. Aesthetics Principle: Good design considers symmetry, colors, and sounds. Classrooms, for example, can use colors that enhance cognitive processes, as research shows humans are drawn to symmetry. 4. Cultural Relevance: Cultural factors and beliefs influence product choices. Designers should align their designs with cultural expectations and values. In conclusion, how you conceptualize your product shapes your design approach. Remember, people want the outcome a product delivers, not just the product itself. Design for efficient, pleasing, and culturally appropriate interactions. #design #organisation #product

Sadly, a lot of design teams still fail to do this. Have design systems. A design system is a unified set of design standards, components, and guidelines that ensure consistency and efficiency across all digital products. It acts as a blueprint for creating scalable designs. Why every design team needs a design system: 1. Consistency across projects: Design systems ensure that all elements are consistent, from buttons and icons to typography and color schemes. 2. Increased efficiency: With a library of reusable components, designers can quickly assemble interfaces without starting from scratch each time. This not only speeds up the design process but also reduces redundancy. 3. Better communication and collaboration: A well-documented design system facilitates better communication between designers, developers, and stakeholders. It provides a common language and reference, making collaboration smoother and more effective. 4. Scalability and maintenance: As products evolve, a design system ensures they remain scalable and easy to maintain. Updates to the system automatically reflect across all designs, keeping everything up-to-date and cohesive. 5. Focus on user experience: By handling the repetitive aspects of design, a design system frees up designers to focus on solving user problems and improving the overall user experience. It allows you to think beyond individual elements and see the bigger picture. Are you using a design system in your team? Has it made your design process better? I'll love to know in the comments! #designsystems #productdesigner #humanizingdigitalexperiences

For designers, it is essential to understand the challenges users may face before proposing design solutions. This article offers valuable insights into crafting problem statements.

5 Things about design system 1. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮! - You’re designing for two sets of users when you build a design system. First, you’re building for the end users who will be the customers of your company’s final product. But you’re also designing for the product designers who build those services and rely on the design system to create effective products. 2. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐦: 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 - Similar to designers, developers can speed up their workflows when building products with ready-made components from design systems. The real challenge is maintaining consistency between these two crews. 3. 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 - My recommendation is to research and apply the most suitable semantic or global naming that can scale with your current and future design system’s needs. 4. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 - Access to communications technology and equal opportunities are human rights, and accessibility is an inclusive practice every team should apply from the foundation of any design system. This adds more steps to the process but enhances the business value of the product and meets the needs of more customers. 5. 𝐀 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 - Just like any product, a design system goes through an intense recursive process after its initial launch. The product designers will report bugs and new requests and need constant support from the design system team.

The End of Design? . "The designer of the future is a generalist with strong skills in all the major design fields. But the main skill is very high confidence in your design decisions. It’s the ability to lead on a project and to stand by what you think the team should do". . It's not about tools, listen to their problem. . Check out this article with some amazing insights. . #Design #Designthinking #Designdecisions #problemsolving

Design is not a process. Don’t let process become the thing that design serves. Design can’t be a scripted set of steps. It’s a lot like jazz, needing to improvise on the fly. So many designers, their portfolios, and popular bootcamps emphasize process over the ability to think and act like a designer. The goal of a designer is to bridge outcomes with materials through a deep understanding of the possible solutions. Each outcome and problem set are unique. There is no universal series of steps designers can take to repeat successful outcomes every time. https://lnkd.in/gKnVsSih

Today's design read is this article on defending your design process by Vitaly Friedman- https://lnkd.in/ev4C-c94 1. The real value of design lies in the quality of the process behind it, not just the end product. 2. Stakeholders are bound not to understand the messy process and the time it takes to get to that value because of the knowledge gap that exists between them and designers.  3. To avoid rushed processes leading to subpar work, visualize the design process for stakeholders. This helps them understand the complexity and value of each step.  4. Share your process artifacts such as your sticky notes, pen and paper jottings, inspiration boards so they can see the process. It gives stakeholders insight into your thought process and the work involved.  5. Try event storming sessions. This is a collaborative planning technique involving everyone on the project so that key timelines are visualized  and the complexity of the process can be understood by all. 

“The value of design isn't actually in producing visual artifacts, but in the process that leverages those artifacts.” Excellent article by Pavel Samsonov reminding us all of what it actually means to * design * something! Anyone who has ever interviewed me and asked me to “tell me about your process” has gotten an earful about this. The value of design will always be in producing a deliverable that embodies decisions made about benefits to the user-which requires understanding the user well enough to be able to make those decisions. https://lnkd.in/gBfMeVJn

Design systems push for universal standardization and over time design patterns emerge leading to users adopting behaviors as if they are second nature. Some of these design patterns however, are either counterintuitive, outdated or flat out bad. This article explores popular universal design patterns that are problematic and how we can fix them to design more inclusive and accessible experiences for all. https://lnkd.in/d6FTH9Wt