To design is to create a plan or specification for the construction of a building, an object, a system or an activity. In order to design something well, the designer must create something innovative, useful, simple, honest, understandable, safe for the environment, long lasting, aesthetic, unassuming and thorough down to the last detail.
Central Park, an example of excellent design, improved water quality, stopped the spread of disease and created an amenity which serves New Yorkers all year long. The iPhone, another example of excellent design, is fun to use, attractive, efficient, easy to use and simple in appearance. Two signs that give conflicting information, a right-handed desk for a left-handed student, or a building with no easily identifiable entrance are examples of poor design, as is a conference in which the breakout sessions are impossible to find in the time allotted
Good or great design enhances our quality of life. Poor design does not. That’s why it matters!
