10 Principals of Good Product Design

Product design is one of the most essential steps of the product development process. Combines the factors of the way products feel, look, and function, a quality design can greatly change the value of the product. While good product design may seem like a subjective matter, once you peel back the layers to the core, there are a variety of principles and ideas that make products, and their designs, much more appealing. Following these principles will help establish a framework for good product design, product timeless and more successful in the market.

Influenced by Dieter Rams, a notorious German Industrial Designer most known for his unobtrusive approach to design and his belief in ‘less but better’, we are going to share the ten commandments of good product design for your idea or invention.

Good Product Design is Innovative

With today’s technological advancements and development, the number of possibilities for innovation is not exhausted by any means. An innovative design for a product relies significantly on the advancement of technology in order to continue producing creative solutions that are truly cutting-edge and innovative. Technological advancements will never cease to impress us, and it is in tandem that both design and technology innovate in order to make products usable, appealing, and purposeful.

Good Product Design is Purposeful

People purchase products to use them. Product design is not only about creating something that is pleasing and appealing but going far beyond that to meet certain criteria and ensure that the products are purposeful and useful. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly take away from it.

Good Product Design is Aesthetic

A product’s aesthetic quality is integral to its usefulness because many products are used on a daily basis and have an effect on people and their well-being. Product designs that are properly executed have the chance of truly being aesthetically pleasing and can even influence a change in the world. While it is true that the beauty of a product is not the priority focus of the designer, it is a key part for sure. Remember, a product can be purposeful, yet beauty attracts people that want to use it and are content when using it. In addition to usability, beauty and aesthetics are essential in crafting something that not only has a purpose, but motivates people to use it and integrate the product into their daily lives.

Good Product Design is Easy To Understand

Whether we realize it or not, we interact with a variety of products on a regular, if not daily, basis. Using certain products have streamlined our lives in certain ways, that eliminating them would likely cause a significant change. Having the ability to understand a product is immensely important in regards to generating a great product design. In addition to clearly defining what the product does, it also stands to define the organization that created it. If a product requires inordinate instruction to be usable, something’s wrong.  

Good and timeless product design clarifies the product’s structure as well as it’s functionality. Even better, it can make the product express its function using user’s intuition. Remember, ideally, design should be self-explanatory.

Good Product Design is Unobtrusive

When consumers purchase a product, they did not do so so that they could stumble over it repeatedly. Product designs should be viewed as a tool. Products should take the most basic form in order to allow users to leave room for their own preferences and self-expression. Some of the most successful designs are neutral and restrained at the same time.

Good Product Design is Honest

The market is full of products that promise us certain benefits in sensational time. However, these objects and items are often only made to appear more powerful, innovative, and valuable than what they really are. Instead, they are designed in an attempt to manipulate consumers with promises that are unlikely or cannot be kept. Product designs should be honest with users on what is being delivered to them, and whether that message is presented through a visual affordance, iconography, or even through marketing, it needs to be followed through on.

Good Product Design is Long Lasting

Creating a design that was influenced by fashion trends, fads, and things that may only be considered as “in” for not even the latter part of the year will likely not have as much success down the road. Good product design will avoid being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike designs that are driven by fashion trends, it lasts many years – even in today’s ‘throwaway’ society.

Good Product Design is Thoroughly Detailed

The desire for perfection is common during the product designing process, and as you may already know, design is all in the details. Not being thorough enough in the details of product design can create a lot of drawbacks. Designs need to be comprehensible in every respect, which means carping over as many details as you can to ensure the design of the product will be usable and functional for the consumers it is intended for.

Good Product Design is Eco-Friendly

Believe it or not, design makes an essential contribution to the preservation of the environment. Like it or not, everything we do, small or big, have some sort of environmental impact and can also backfire in an unpleasant way. A good product design puts sustainability and environmental preservation as some of the top priorities.

Good Product Design Is Minimal

The phrase ‘less is more’ is the golden ticket of product design. Some designs put too much time and effort into a design that will blow people away. However, many of the greatest products put simplicity at their roots. Consider Apple, for instance. Many of their most popular products have a simple design. Keep in mind, good design focuses on the core functionality and purpose and embracing simplicity.

The product design commandments above are by no means a rule guide on how to make good product designs, rather it is more of a starting foundation to keep in mind as you think of what ideas that can be used to motivate product development and that can be implemented into each of your projects.

Searching For Product Design Companies?

If you need assistance with product design, GloberDesign is a professional design firm that specializes in launching new products for inventors, entrepreneurs, and startups. Our product design firm in Florida has worked with a variety of companies from different industries. To learn more about how our product design and development company can help you with the product design, and any other parts of the product development process, contact us today!