Is the sum of small correct decisions a good product? Should we strive with each design or product decision to satisfy as many as possible use scenarios?

Lately, I find myself repeating something I deeply believe in:

Design - in the broader use of the term - is an opinion about a possible approach to a given situation.

I tried to formulate the above sentence as generic as I could, because over the last years I have encountered numerous cases where it applies.

Design

Visual design is something very hard to quantify or judge. You can only judge it after studying its interaction with a large sum of users.

Product design can also only be judged by its result. Numerous cases of this-will-never-work turned into successful ventures.

Consistency, coherence and opinion have so far been my main driving forces when designing.

There is no such thing as a bad design decision, but there are informed and conscious decisions versus uninformed and unconscious decisions. The consistency of a single opinion - not a single mind, mind you - is what ties these bits of design together into a successful approach.

In the end, this opinion is a coin toss generated by a specific worldview. You put it out there and state:

“This is how I think this should look/work/feel. It is mine and I share it with you”.

The Courage of One’s Opinion

In a world idolizing social validation where we agonize for the envious glimpses of others into our lives and the resulting thumb-like validation, we have demonized the power of opinion.

We need to sit together to come to a consensus, failure is better swallowed in the company of others. A reality that saddens me.