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52 Design Considerations

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Design considerations are the factors that shape a design including requirements and other constraints such as branding, standards and user experience. Design differs from art in that it considers factors such as strategy, customers, markets, technology, regulations and competition. The following are common design considerations.

Accessibility

Designing things so that they can be accessed by people with disabilities.

Architecture

Architecture is a structure for design. For example, the architecture of a building provides a structure for interior design.

Automation

Automation of functionality and decisions.

Branding

Brand considerations such as identity, image and positioning. These are often specified in brand guidelines that provide a comprehensive specification for the visual identity of a brand.

Cohesion

Designing things to belong together such as a fashion line designed to match.

Color

Use of color techniques such as color harmony and color temperature.

Conviviality

The friendliness and liveliness of a design such as an urban design with attractive public spaces.

Compliance

Compliance to laws and regulations.

Cost

Development costs, unit costs and operational costs.

Culture

Culture exists at many levels such as the culture of a nation, region or city. Design such as architecture may seek to reflect local culture.

Customer Preferences

Customer tastes and preferences such as fashion sense.

Deconstruction

Designs that are easy to take apart to fix, reuse and recycle.

Design Constraints

Constraints such as cost, time and politics.

Design Principles

Design principles are basic laws of design such as visual balance that states that designs should look balanced on both sides of middle.

Durability

Designs built to last.

Efficiency

Designs that make efficient use of energy and resources.

Engagement

Techniques for engaging users such as gamification.

Experience

Considering the lifetime of interactions between your design and customers.

Extensibility

Designs that can be extended with future designs or components such as accessories.

Features

A collection of related functionality.

Functionality

The operations that a design provides to customers.

Goals

The goals and strategy behind a design. In other words, your motive for creating the design.

Health & Safety

Designs related to health & safety such as running shoes designed to be highly visible under a variety of conditions.

Human Factors

Designing things to suit human physical, physiological and social characteristics.

Human Scale

The practice of designing things at a size, speed, weight, temperature, energy level, pressure and distance that is appropriate for humans. Virtually everything small and large is built to human scale.

Interoperability

Designing things to work with other things.

Language

Designs that minimize the rework required to offer products and services in multiple languages.

Layout & Composition

The arrangement of elements of a design.

Lightness

Elements that get out of the way so as to appear almost nonexistent.

Look

The overall visual appeal of a design.

Materials

Choice of materials.

Modeless vs Contextual

Contextual user interfaces produce different results depending on the circumstances. Modeless designs always work the same way.

Negative Space

A background that plays an active role in a design.

Operability

Operational considerations such as maintenance procedures.

Performance

Performance such as speed or accuracy.

Positioning

The position of a product, service or creative work in a crowded market.

Production

How the design will be produced. For example, a design that can be produced by the equipment at a particular factory.

Proximity

Proximity is the closeness of things. It is a common consideration in practices such as urban design that deal with large physical spaces.

Quality

A general term for any quality that makes a design more valuable such as ambiance, character and consistency.

Requirements

Requirements such as use cases and user stories.

Reusability

Designs that can be reused as a goal of sustainability or as a feature.

Scalability

How well a design performs as business volumes such as website traffic increase.

Security

Physical and information security.

Shape And Form

Shape is 2D and form is 3D.

Standards

Relevant standards such as electrical safety standards or web design best practices.

Style

A character that shows through in a line of products, brand or work of a designer.

Technology

Technology considerations such as green technology for sustainable design.

Touch

How something feels to the touch including techniques such as haptics.

Trends

The near future direction of technology, markets or customer preferences.

Usability

Ease of use.

Waste

Designs that minimize production, operational or end-of-life waste.

Values

Your values as a designer or the values of your organization.

Overview

Design considerations are the requirements, standards, practices, principles, commercial and technical constraints that are considered in a design.

Summary

Design considerations include anything that shapes a design such as requirements, regulations, design principles and brand guidelines.
More about design considerations:
Accessibility
Brand Identity
Brand Image
Color Harmony
Color Theory
Custom Fit
Customization
Customization
Design
Design Characteristics
Design Function
Design Goals
Design Objectives
Design To Cost
Ergonomics
Form
Form Factor
Human Factors
Human Factors
Human Scale
Lightness
Positioning
Public Spaces
Quality
Shape And Form
Subcultures
Sustainability
Urban Design
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Design Composition

An overview of design composition with examples.

Design Constraints

The common types of design constraint.

Design Requirements

A list of what is included in design requirements.

Form

The definition of form with design examples.

Human Factors

A list of human factors in design.

Design

A comprehensive guide to design.

Color Theory

An overview of color theory.

Layout vs Composition

The difference between layout and composition.

Modeless vs Contextual

The difference between modeless and contextual user interfaces explained.

Types Of Design

A list of common types of design.

Design Process

The steps in a design process.

Design Quality

The common types of design quality.

Universal Design

A definition of universal design with examples.

Sensory Design

A definition of sensory design with examples.

Emotional Design

An overview of emotional design.

Elegance

The definition of elegance with examples.

Color Theory Definition

Definitions of color theory.

Color Theory

The study of color mixing and the visual effects of color.

Impossible Colors

Colors that can't be seen under normal circumstances.

Color Harmony

Why colors match or clash.

Color

The definition of color.

Color Symbolism

A definition of color symbolism with examples.

Rainbow Colors

An overview of the colors of the rainbow including a few common myths.

Colors

A large collection of color palettes.
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