Good Design – Take Away

Good Design is context dependent. This is what I took away more than anything from the article. Good Design has no rule book and no objective one fits all structure but, instead varies from situation to situation changing through contexts.

As the article states “‘Good’ is defined in relation to societal laws, regulations, agreements, and contracts, and in relation to ideological considerations such as democratic, cultural, and environmental ideals.”

The notional of improvement of one’s judgmental skills, rather than an improvement of simply a checklist titled “Good Design”  is something that stuck with me from the article. Designers must support the growth of these ideas in order to create good design for unique situations rather than for a blanket of possibilities.

Reflection 

This concept discussed above is one that has never really come to me as a designer. But reading through this article I completely understand the use of this mindset, especially when in relation to interaction design. Being adaptable is a key asset of taking yourself from a good to a great designer. Thinking through no just a good design but a good solution for the problem at hand

Art Work

This is not really an artwork but I think it embodies the idea of the article.

This is an animal crossing in Banff Nation Park, Canada. These were implemented to reduce road kill encounters and to provide an unobstructed passage from forest to forest for wildlife. The designers in this circumstance took an outdated method of simple signs and made it into something completely revolutionary. These walkways have significantly reduced animal deaths in the areas they are present, all while maintaining a natural environment. The designers, in this case, didn’t focus on human-centric design and attempt to create better signs, or craft a way to make humans more alert; this simply doesn’t work. Instead, they designed for the animals and both parties profited.