7 Basic Design Principles We Forget About

Some of them will always apply!

Once upon a time, in 2018, there was a guy called Jimmy. He was a designer at a company called Shmuckle. All he dreamt, night and day was to become one day a famous designer. His muse and inspiration was Steve Jobs. Being obsessed with him, he was always preaching good design in his company. Jimmy was all about delights, intuitive design and innovation. Until one day he hit a creative block.

Jimmy was working on an important project for his company that would help him promote his career. He was tasked to redesign the main dashboard of their product. But he could not achieve the appropriate result for the interface. As a backup plan, he started rewatching all his favourite design videos, reading articles and listening to podcasts. But no result. He still did not know how to proceed.

Luckily, the company’s senior designer, Sarah, was passing by. She saw the poor guy struggling. A smile sneaked on her face, remembering her early days, how she was struggling too, to create a great product. But now she is more experienced and knows all the tricks and tips that can help her to get through any creative block.

“Hey Jimmy, I saw you did not update the new design you were working on. What’s the problem?”

“I am trying to design this improved interface for our customers. It should be easier to use, show better and improved stats, and solve a couple of other accessibility issues, but I don’t know… It does not feel right. I tested it with customers and some say it works great, some hate it, some say we need to change it. I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay, it happens when you don’t have a proper foundation. Look, there are a couple of principles that will help you design great products. Luckily, you don’t need any voodoo magic. Apply them when you feel stuck.”