We don’t give enough credit to things that are designed well. We take them for granted. Like, for example, a Doc Marten boot. It’s a classic shape that’s so universally recognizable that you immediately know what it is. Or perhaps the toaster. What a simple, elegant design that we haven’t really improved on (besides adding optional …
Seguir leyendo 26 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 29, 2024)

As Yves Saint Laurent once said, «Fashions fade, style is eternal.» Trends come and go, that’s for sure (though somehow mid 2010s fashion already coming back, and it’s scaring the heck out of me). But there are a few things that will alwaysremain in vogue. And you can tell when someone is just following trends …
Seguir leyendo 27 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 22, 2024)

Design flops happen more often than we think they do. How often do we make an error that could have been solved by a design choice? Everything should be intuitive. There should be no showers that we can’t figure out how to turn on. There should be no pens that refuse to click into place. There …
Seguir leyendo 27 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 15, 2024)

Part of being human is trying and failing. We’re not computers, or algorithms, or robots, we make mistakes. And that can be a beautiful thing. That’s how evolution works: a genetic mistake is made and if it works, we run with it. It’s how we get the best art: artists shatter the conventions previously set out …
Seguir leyendo 28 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 8, 2024)

They teach you in school that you shouldn’t rudely point out other people’s mistakes. They tell you that it’s not nice to point fingers, that you should have patience with others, and not to laugh at the failings of another. That’s all well and good,  but there’s a line with this. For example, if my fly is …
Seguir leyendo 29 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (September 1, 2024)

A good or a bad design can make or break… almost anything. A book could have the most riveting, original plot line the world has ever seen, but if it has a boring cover, it may not ever reach the masses it should reach. A website could hold vital, life-saving information, but if it’s not intuitive …
Seguir leyendo 27 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (August 25, 2024)

Sometimes you don’t realize something until it’s too late. Sometimes you realize you’ve made an error, but it’s too late to turn back now, so you just charge forth and pretend you didn’t realize it. I would do this all the time when I worked in retail. If you make a mistake, in some cases …
Seguir leyendo 26 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (August 18, 2024)

Do you ever see something in the world that you just have to fix? Maybe you’ve spotted a crooked picture frame and had to put it back so it’s even. Maybe you’ve been in a restaurant bathroom and noticed the toilet paper roll was put on upside-down (everyone knows it’s over, not under, unless you have an …
Seguir leyendo 28 Baffling Design Choices Found in the Wild (August 11, 2024)