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45 Principles of Design

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Design is the practice of creating things. This is a diverse practice that draws from synthesis, analysis, engineering, culture and art. Design is used to create visual environments, information, interactions, products, services, buildings, infrastructure and technology. The following are common principles of design.

Alignment

Positioning things in a line.

Hierarchy

Arranging things in a hierarchy of importance.

Contrast

Using visual contrast to create emphasis and draw interest.

Ban the Average

Not designing things for the mythical "average person."

Design to the Edges

Design things to be usable for as many people as possible including people with disabilities.

Human Scale

Designs are for humans and consider their characteristics such as how people perceive colors.

Space

Use negative space to make designs less loud and chaotic.

Essential Complexity

Only increase complexity where it adds value.

Minimalism

The philosophical as opposed to rational reduction of complexity.

Flexibility

Designs are broadly usable in as many contexts as possible.

Personality

Create designs that have an identity or feel to them.

Context

Designs consider context of use.

Audience

Consider user needs and perceptions.

More is Different

Complexity can add value .. avoid needless minimalism.

Unity

The elements of a design are arranged such that they look like they belong together.

Variety

Designs need not be homogeneous and can include elements that are distinctive and unique.

Balance

Make both sides of things appear to be in balance.

Repetition

Elements can be repeated to create consistency and unity.

Rhythm

Multiple elements can be repeated in a pattern.

Proportion

Find balance in the relative sizes of things.

Proximity

Group related things close together.

Emphasis

Design may draw attention to one element with techniques such as contrast.

Movement

Consider how the user's attention flows through a design.

Genius Loci

Design things to suit their time and place e.g. not copying historical styles.

Truth to Materials

Materials don't pretend to be something they're not. For example, a plastic phone that pretends to be gold.

Least Astonishment

Things work the way users expect unless there is a very good reason to change this.

Least Effort

Make things easy for the user.

Input is Error

The aggressive minimization of human input whereby having to ask the user is viewed as a failure of automation.

Scale

Design things to seamlessly scale up and down.

Keep it Simple

All else being equal, a simple design beats a complex one.

You Ain't Gonna Need It

Avoid too many functions and features. e.g. obscure gestures that few people use but people might trigger by accident.

Worse is Better

Avoid excessive quality. Designs can be launched and improved over time with user feedback.

Last Responsible Moment

Avoid making design assumptions or decisions too early -- let things evolve a little.

Defensive Design

Brainstorm the edge cases and worst cases and design for them.

Form Follows Function

Functionality drives design and not the other way around.

Modularity

Break things into parts that fit together

Interchangable Parts

Standardize parts for efficiency.

There's More Than One Way To Do IT

There is no perfect design just many good designs.

Learnability

If you have to explain a design feature to the user, it might be too complex or obscure.

Information Scent

Provide clues about how things work.

Attractiveness Principle

Aesthetics are personal .. there is no one design that everyone likes.

Empathy

Get to know the user and learn to feel what they feel to improve a design.

Conviviality

Designs can feel friendly or unfriendly.

Extensibility

Designs adapt well to future change.

Elegance

A design that feels simple, intuitive and appealing that is in fact extremely complex.
It should be noted that many of the design principles above are opposites:
Context calls for considering exactly how a design will be used but flexibility calls for a design that is broadly useful in contexts that you may not be able to imagine.
Minimalism calls for eliminating complexity for philosophical reasons while essential complexity supports making designs complex if there is some need for complexity.
Ban the average calls for designs that are broadly useful for all people while audience calls for designs that are for an identified group such as a target market.

Design

This is the complete list of articles we have written about design.
Adaptability
Aesthetics
Architecture
Balance
Charrette
Color Harmony
Color Temperature
Commercial Art
Complexity
Composition
Concept Design
Context Of Use
Crafts
Critical Design
Customization
Defensive Design
Design
Design Abstraction
Design Business
Design Concept
Design Constraints
Design Culture
Design Debt
Design Failure
Design Fiction
Design Flaw
Design Goals
Design Innovation
Design Management
Design Objectives
Design Philosophy
Design Principles
Design Process
Design Quality
Design Requirements
Design Research
Design Skills
Design Strategy
Design Styles
Design Testing
Design Theory
Design Thinking
Design To Value
Digital Design
Dominance
Edge Case
Elegance
Emergent Design
Emotional Design
Feature Fatigue
Fit For Purpose
Game Design
Gesamtkunstwerk
Graphic Design
Human Factors
Human Scale
Immersive Design
Industrial Design
Information Design
Input Is Error
Interaction Design
Iterative Design
Layout
Less Is A Bore
Less Is More
Lightness
Marketing Design
Minimalism
Modern Design
More Is Different
Moving Parts
Naive Design
Negative Space
New Complexity
No Design
Overengineering
Persona
Product Design
Prototypes
Sensory Design
Service Design
Shape And Form
Silent Design
Slow Design
Space
Speculative Design
Stability
Structure
Style
Sustainable Design
Synthesis
Texture
Transition Design
Unity
Universal Design
Urban Design
Usability
UX
Variety
Visual Design
Worse Is Better
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