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How on Earth anybody signed off on that design Will people buy it? Yes. Let's make it, then. Design is always driven by business considerations. If i

How on Earth anybody signed off on that design Will people buy it? Yes. Let's make it, then. Design is always driven by business considerations. If it made money, it was a good design.

JohnFen 3y ago
> If it made money, it was a good design I disagree. If it made money, it was a successful product, but there are tons of products that are successful despite them being the embodiment of terrible design.
- brudgers 3y ago
  I understand your position. I suppose the difference is I consider good enough design to be good design…and that the client is the customer for design and hence the client’s customers are not the customers for designs. If the client wants a bright blue LED, they get a bright blue LED. They might also get an informed opinion as well. Or not. So long as nobody dies and the check doesn’t bounce, we’re on to a winner.
  - thiht 3y ago
    I’m sorry but your position is wrong. A face mask that doesn’t filter all light is bad design. A face mask that doesn’t filter the light it produces itself (blue light even!) is awful design. It certainly is not good enough. Whether it makes money or not is irrelevant. Tons of people buy stuff because they don’t know better. Maybe it was a cheap mask, or maybe it was the only one sold at airports, or maybe it had aggressive marketing, or the Bluetooth feature was niche at the time. None of that has to do with design.
    - brudgers 3y ago
      Well designed prisons are not designed to delight their prisoners. A designer designing a prison designs according to the objectives of the person writing the check, not the check writer’s customers. A designer is just another service worker working a day job to buy a hamburger.
      - thiht 3y ago
        I can’t believe I have to write this down, but a prison is not a customer product
        brudgers 3y ago
        Design is not a consumer product. It’s not a product at all. Design is a B2B business where some clients want prisons and others Bluetooth sleep masks. You can imagine that there’s an existential difference between sleep mask buyers and inmates. But neither writes the check.

How on Earth anybody signed off on that design Will people buy it? Yes. Let's make it, then. Design is always driven by business considerations. If it made money, it was a good design.

JohnFen 3y ago

> If it made money, it was a good design I disagree. If it made money, it was a successful product, but there are tons of products that are successful despite them being the embodiment of terrible design.

brudgers 3y ago
I understand your position. I suppose the difference is I consider good enough design to be good design…and that the client is the customer for design and hence the client’s customers are not the customers for designs. If the client wants a bright blue LED, they get a bright blue LED. They might also get an informed opinion as well. Or not. So long as nobody dies and the check doesn’t bounce, we’re on to a winner.
- thiht 3y ago
  I’m sorry but your position is wrong. A face mask that doesn’t filter all light is bad design. A face mask that doesn’t filter the light it produces itself (blue light even!) is awful design. It certainly is not good enough. Whether it makes money or not is irrelevant. Tons of people buy stuff because they don’t know better. Maybe it was a cheap mask, or maybe it was the only one sold at airports, or maybe it had aggressive marketing, or the Bluetooth feature was niche at the time. None of that has to do with design.
  - brudgers 3y ago
    Well designed prisons are not designed to delight their prisoners. A designer designing a prison designs according to the objectives of the person writing the check, not the check writer’s customers. A designer is just another service worker working a day job to buy a hamburger.
    - thiht 3y ago
      I can’t believe I have to write this down, but a prison is not a customer product
      - brudgers 3y ago
        Design is not a consumer product. It’s not a product at all. Design is a B2B business where some clients want prisons and others Bluetooth sleep masks. You can imagine that there’s an existential difference between sleep mask buyers and inmates. But neither writes the check.