Show the thought and care that go into well-designed products.

We try to solve very complicated problems without letting people know how complicated the problem was.
— Jonathan Ive

The effort and thinking that goes into a good design is invisible. While a good design solution might seem obvious, it is not! “I could have thought of that” is common feedback to a well-thought-out design. But the products all around you tell a different story.

Well-designed products are beacons of excellence, yet, they are rare. The not-so-well-designed ones are the norm. The ones that are unhelpful, rude, absent-minded, and unusable. These are the products that surround us.

Well-designed products are silent. They don’t show how much thought was put into them. Nor do they show what it took to get them to this state. Poorly designed products are the opposite. They are obtrusive, and their flaws are obvious and annoying.

Well-designed products seem easy and intuitive. Good design is the absence of noise and friction, allowing for a seamless user experience.

This is reflected in the saying: Design is like air conditioning.” If the air-conditioning is working fine, nobody realizes it’s there, and everyone unconsciously enjoys the experience. But when it is not working, people will realize it fast and will be quite unhappy about it. People will even break a sweat about it.

Designing something simple is hard work; it requires careful thought and attention to detail. This is why you need to explain what went into your design — the thoughts, the concepts, the details, and your knowledge.