The Impact of Design
I often come across people — work related and otherwise — who think design doesn’t really matter, that it’s all just a bunch of hoopla. Yesterday I was once again discussing the issue of balancing form with function and the limits we artificially create when we don’t give each its due.
I believe that form matters, but not at the expense of function. I believe that function without form limits function.
This gets me in trouble with designers sometimes, ones who just want to create beautiful things without being constrained by what those designs are meant to achieve. And it gets me in trouble with technicians, inventors, and engineers who prefer to give scant attention to the “extraneous” issue of form.
One of my all time favourite books about the valuable partnership between design and usability (function) is The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman. This is one smart guy. If you’re still on the fence about the value of either/or form/function, take a look at what Don Norman has to say about the conscious and unconscious levels on which design is perceived.
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