come on babay

Technology Serves Humans.

Too often people blame themselves for the shortcomings of technology. When their computer crashes, they say "I must have done something dumb". If a web site is poorly designed, they say "I must be stupid. I can't find it". They might even turn to a book for Dummies to get it right.

This is horrible! People should never feel like a failure when using technology. Like the customer, the user is always right. If software crashes, it is the software designer's fault. If someone can't find something on a web site, it is the web designer's fault. This doesn't mean that the designer has to hang their head in shame…they should see this as a learning opportunity! The big difference between good and bad designers is how they handle people struggling with their design.

Technology serves humans. Humans do not serve technology.

Design is not Art.

Art is about personal expression. It is about the life, the emotions, the thoughts and ideas of the artist. It matters very little what observers do, their activity is not required, only their appreciation. The practice of Art doesn't require them. It is a necessary activity for the artist, and the artist alone.

Design, on the other hand, is about use. The designer needs someone to use (not only appreciate) what they create. Design doesn't serve its purpose without people to use it. Design helps solve human problems. The highest accolade we can bestow on a design is not that it is beautiful, as we do in Art, but that it is well-used.

Unlike Art, Design is always contextual. It matters when a design was created because of the context of its use: what problem is it supposed to solve? And for whom? At what point in time? This is why design is so related to technology, because technology changes so quickly, so must our designs. A design that worked ten years ago might not even be worth considering today. History is littered with wonderful designs that are no longer necessary.

Great Art, on the other hand, is always in style. We appreciate Michelangelo's David even though we could recreate a million of them because it was the toil and expression of a single man. That will never fade. Great Design is dependent upon the age in which it is made and the problem which it is meant to solve. But not Art. Art is timeless.

The litmus test. When people enjoy Art, they say "I like that". When people enjoy Design, they say "That works well". This is not by accident. Good Design is something that works well.

The Experience Belongs to the User.

Designers do not create experiences, they create artifacts to experience. This subtle distinction makes all the difference, as it places the designer at the service of the user, and not the other way around. This doesn't rule out innovation, it doesn't prevent a designer to leap beyond what is accepted as state-of-the-art. It just means that the experience of a design doesn't happen simply because the designer says it does, it happens when a user actually reports it.

The ultimate experience is something that happens in the user, and it is theirs. They own it.

Great Design is Invisible.

An interesting property of great design is that it is taken for granted. It works so well that we forget that creative effort was involved to bring it about. Sometimes, like with the lowly spoon, the object is so simplistic that it seems obvious, and we disregard that at one point in history it wasn't. Other times, like with the automobile, the object is so sophisticated yet easy-to-use that we're blinded to the fact that millions and millions of human-hours went into getting it to this point. That's a shame…every great design has a rich history. And every design has behind it a designer or designers who tried to make the world a better place by solving some problem or another.

Bad design is obvious because it hurts to use. It is awkward, difficult, and complex. In a great irony of the world, bad design is much easier to see than good design. It raps us on the head like a bully. Because of its success, great design is often invisible.

Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.

As Saint Exupery said, "In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when
there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away." Simplicity is treading a line: knowing what to keep and what to throw away…it comes across as magic when it works, because none of the complexity is transferred to users…only simplicity. That is the highest achievement for a designer.

技术为人民服务

人们经常埋怨自己的技术短处。当电脑当机，他们会说："我一定是干了某些愚蠢的事情"。面对一个设计糟糕的网站，他们会说："我一定是太蠢了，我竟找不着北"。他们很有可能去买一本傻瓜指南。

很不可思议！人们在使用技术时不应该感到挫折。就像客户，用户永远是对的。如果软件崩溃了，那是软件设计师的错；如果在某个网站上找不着北，那是web设计师的错。但这也不表示设计师要羞愧低头……他们更应该把这看作是一个学习的机会！好设计师与坏设计师最大的差别在于，如何处理他们的让用户正折腾着的设计。

技术为人民服务。人民不会为技术服务。

设计非艺术

艺术是关于个人表达的。它关于生命，关于情感――艺术家的想法和主意。它不太关注第三者干什么，活动也不是必须的，仅是他们的鉴赏。艺术实践不需要这些。鉴赏是艺术家的必需品，同时他们也是孤独的。

设计，从另一方面来说，是关于使用的。设计师需要别人来使用（而不仅仅是鉴赏）他们的作品。设计不存在不让人们使用它的目的。设计辅助解决人类问题。我们能授予一个设计的最高荣誉不是它多漂亮，多艺术，而是它用途多广。

不像艺术，设计总是存在于情景中的。情景对一个设计至关重要：它要解决什么问题？为谁设计？在什么时期？这就是为何设计与技术如此紧密的缘故。因为技术变化太快，所以设计必须步随其后。十年前的设计在今天可能不值一提。充满精彩设计的历史没有必要继续存在。

伟大的艺术，从另一角度说，永远风行。就算今天我们可以复制一百万个大卫像，我们依然欣赏米开朗基罗的原作，因为它是一个人的辛劳和表达。艺术永远不会凋谢。伟大的设计则依赖于它产生的年代和要解决的问题。但艺术不这样，艺术是永恒的。

做个测试。当人们享受艺术时，说："我喜欢"；当人们享用设计时，说："做得不错"。这并非偶然。好的设计就是能干活的料。

体验属于用户

设计师不生产体验，他们制作的是体验用品。看似细微的差别却有很大不同，因为它把设计师放在服务用户的位置上，而非其他方式。这并不是要扼杀创新，它并不会妨碍设计师跳过上述关于艺术的阐述。它只意味着，设计的体验并不会简单地因为设计师说这般这般就会这般这般地发生，当用户提交反馈时，真实的体验就确确实实发生了。

最终的体验发生在用户那里，体验是属于他们的。

伟大的设计是无形的

伟大的设计一个有趣的属性是，它来源于认可。用得爽的时候我们忘了创造它时的种种艰辛。有时，就像普通的汤匙，显而易见，这东西太简单了，但我们会忽视了在历史的某一时期它并不这样。还有，就像汽车，这东西尽管很复杂但依然容易使用，但是我们却对于它背后数以万计的工时视而不见。这是一种羞耻……每一个伟大的设计都有丰富的历史。每一设计背后都是一个或一群设计师，他们想通过解决某些问题来让世界更美好。

烂的设计显然是因为它伤害了使用。它拙劣，困难和复杂。最为讽刺的是，这个世界上烂的设计比好的设计更容易碰着。它像暴徒一样强奸着我们的头脑。它像恶徒一样在我们面前逞威风。因为有用，伟大的设计通常都是无形的。

简洁是终极哲学

如Saint Exupery所说：设计师知道自己要达到完美，不在于无物可增，而在于无物可减。。简洁自成一体：知道什么要加和什么要扔……当它作用时，就像魔术般实现预期效果，因为没有任何复杂的东西传递给用户……只有简洁。这是设计师的最高成就。