5 Examples of No Design

John Spacey, November 03, 2022

No design is the principle that design get out of the way of the user such that it is completely unnoticeable. The following are illustrative examples.

Desire Path

Desire path is the way that users naturally want to do things. This is an analogy to a path that pedestrians cut through a field while ignoring a sidewalk that takes a longer route between two common destinations.

Least Astonishment

Least astonishment is the principle that you not change established user interface conventions because these help to make interfaces intuitive. For example, you wouldn't design a car that goes left when you turn the steering wheel right.

Zero Learning

The principle that there should be nothing to learn in order to use a product or service. This would include steps such as setup and configuration.

Form Follows Function

Form follows function is the principle that the use of a thing dictates its design and not the other way around. For example, human factors that define the shape of a comfortable chair.

Minimalism

The principle of no design can go too far to become ideological rather than helpful to the user. For example, the idea of input is error or less is more whereby user interface designers seek to remove all user input -- even if this would be useful.

Common Misconception

It is a common misconception that no design means "no visual design" such as a device that communicates without a visual user interface using some other medium such as audio. This is not what no design means.

Criticism

No design is associated with industrial age minimalism such as white or black slightly curvy products designed to offend as few people as possible. This can be crushingly boring and is motivated by industrial needs as opposed to customer needs. For example, when selling a product at scale, color variety can result in supply chain issues such as overstocked unpopular colors.

No design suggests that users should just do whatever comes naturally to them and would prevent innovation such as powerful new ways of doing things. Also, usability isn't the only design goal -- sometimes a desire path destroys a garden, is dangerous or has some other negative effect that users haven't considered.

Overview: No Design
Type	Design Examples
Definition	The principle that design get out of the way of the user such that it is completely unnoticeable.
Related Concepts	Design Examples » Desire Path » Least Astonishment » Form Follows Function » Human Factors » Input Is Error »