Good Design: Usefulness, Appropriateness and Appearance

A product can look attractive and still be frustrating to use. It can work perfectly on a table and become awkward the moment someone needs to carry it.

So when you say a design is “good”, what do you mean?

Three questions help you give a more useful answer: Does it serve a worthwhile purpose? Does it suit the user and situation? Does its appearance support the intended experience?

A dog bringing a note: the form gives an ordinary holder a recognisable story. The note and pencil still need to be held effectively.

Usefulness: what does it help someone do?

Start with the intended purpose. A note holder should keep a note where it can be seen. A pencil holder should keep a pencil available when it is needed.

Naming those functions is only the beginning. Can the note be inserted easily? Does it stay in place? Can the pencil be picked up without disturbing everything else?

These questions turn “it works” into something you can investigate.

Usefulness can also involve enjoyment, reassurance or a pleasant experience. As discussed in designing with purpose, a playful product can have a legitimate purpose. Be clear about what it is meant to achieve, then look for evidence that it achieves it.

Appropriateness: does it fit this situation?

A design may perform its basic function and still be unsuitable for a particular person or place.

Imagine a holder that keeps a note upright but occupies most of a small desk. Its holding function works. Its overall size makes it inconvenient in that setting.

Or imagine one that looks tidy when empty but becomes difficult to reach into when filled. The empty product gave an incomplete impression of its suitability.

This is why I keep asking students to draw the items inside their proposed holders, in proportion. Include the person and surrounding space when they affect use. A holder drawn on its own can hide problems with size, access and arrangement.

Appropriateness connects the design to the user's activity, abilities and preferences, the objects involved, and the environment. It also includes practical matters such as safe handling, cleaning and storage where these are relevant. Find out which matter in your project instead of adding the same general statements to every design.

Appearance: what does the form communicate?

Appearance includes shape, form, proportion, colour and texture. These choices influence how a product is perceived and can help someone understand how to use it.

In my dog note and pencil holder, the idea of a dog bringing its owner a newspaper gave the form a connection to its function. The mouth became a place to hold a note. The form told a small story.

That connection gave me a reason for choosing the dog profile. It did not, by itself, prove that the holder would work.

I first explored holding paper with simple blocks and curved slots. Later, I developed the dog form and made printed versions. The mouth gap needed further adjustments so that the paper would be held more effectively.

The attractive concept and the working detail both needed attention.

Whether someone likes that appearance is another question. A playful dog may suit one person's desk and feel out of place on another. Ask the intended user and consider the setting. Your own taste is a starting point for investigation.

Develop the three together

I often ask students to focus on function first. A simple block can help you investigate how something will work without getting distracted by styling.

That is a teaching focus. As you develop the design, every change needs to be considered in relation to the whole product.

Changing the dog's profile may change the space available for the pencil. Enlarging the body may improve storage while making it too bulky for the desk. Altering the mouth for a stronger visual expression may affect how the paper fits.

Sketch, model and test these relationships. After a change, check the product again with the objects it holds and the person who will use it.

Before calling a design good, explain what it achieves, why it suits its intended use, and how its appearance supports that purpose. Then show the evidence.

#DesignUsefulness #DesignAppropriateness #ProductAppearance #FormAndFunction #UserCentredDesign #DesignAndTechnology #DesignEducation #DesignJournalSOS

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Designing with Purpose: Needs, Users and Meaningful Change

When you propose a design, I want to know three things: what are you trying to change, who is it for, and why is that change worth making?

Your answers give the project its purpose. They also give you something to return to when you research, sketch, develop and test your ideas.

Without that clarity, it is easy to spend weeks making something and still struggle to explain what it achieves.

Organising pencils, extending their usable life, and storing the extended pencils: each change has a purpose.

Begin with the change you want to make

Consider this proposal: “I want to design a phone holder.”

It tells us what you intend to make. But we still know very little about the reason for making it.

Who will use it? Where? What will they be doing? What is difficult or unsatisfactory about the current arrangement?

For example, imagine someone following a recipe on a phone while preparing food. They need to see the instructions clearly, keep the phone away from spills, and use the available worktop space sensibly.

Now there is a situation to investigate. A holder might help, but its usefulness depends on whether it improves that particular experience.

The intended change gives the object a reason to exist.

A design opportunity can take different forms

Students often think they must discover a problem that nobody has ever solved. That expectation can make finding a project unnecessarily difficult.

There are several ways into a worthwhile design:

• Resolve a difficulty: help someone do something they currently struggle to do.
• Improve an existing solution: make an activity easier, more comfortable or more appropriate for a particular user.
• Explore an alternative: find a different way to achieve a familiar purpose.
• Develop an inspiration: use something observed in nature, a product or an everyday situation as the starting point for a useful or engaging outcome.

These directions can overlap. What matters is being clear about the intended outcome.

A project designed for enjoyment is a legitimate design challenge. So is an improvement to an ordinary task. Be honest about which you are pursuing. If the purpose is fun, explain the experience you want to create. If the purpose is practical improvement, explain what should become better.

Calling an idea “innovative” does not explain its value. You still need to show what changes for the user.

A small improvement can have a clear purpose

In an earlier project, I made a holder that kept classroom pencils organised and ready to use.

As the pencils became shorter, another need emerged. They still had usable graphite, but their remaining length made them increasingly awkward to hold.

I made pencil extenders so the shortened pencils could continue to be used. Then came another question: how should the pencils fitted with extenders be stored?

That led to a further holder.

Pencil extenders keep short pencils usable. A separate holder keeps them organised.

The important point is the connection between each change and the situation that prompted it. Organising pencils, extending their usable life and storing the extended pencils each served a recognisable purpose.

Design opportunities can emerge as people use something. A completed solution can reveal the next worthwhile improvement.

Understand the person and the situation

A user is more than a label such as “students” or “elderly people”.

You need to understand the activity they are carrying out, the objects involved, and the environment in which it happens.

The same object may work well in one situation and poorly in another. A storage solution suitable for a permanent desk may be inconvenient for someone who packs everything away after each lesson.

Observe what happens. Ask questions. Look at existing solutions. Check whether your explanation fits the evidence.

If you find a product that already addresses the need, study it. You may discover that it is suitable as it stands. Or you may identify a specific limitation worth improving.

Either finding is useful. Research helps you judge whether your proposed change is justified.

Before you proceed

You should be able to explain:

• Who the design is intended for.
• What they are doing and where.
• What you want to improve, enable or create.
• What evidence supports that intention.

You do not need to have the final solution worked out. You do need a clear enough purpose to guide your next investigation.

Designing with purpose means being able to explain why the change matters—and later demonstrate whether your design achieves it.

#DesignPurpose #DesignNeeds #DesignOpportunities #UserCentredDesign #DesignProcess #DesignAndTechnology #DesignEducation #DesignJournalSOS

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