The answer to the question of what good design is, defines the designer.

Last week one of my heroes  tweeted “Design has always been about superficiality and substance.” I think that is a great quote. For some reason, we need to be reminded now and then that design is not only about fancy styling. But why? Why does substance need defense? If you look at websites like Dribbble, the surface of design looks really appealing. The qualities of superficiality don’t need explanation. But that’s not design. In his book The shape of design, interaction designer Frank Chimero rightly says that “if we stay on the surface and do not dig deep by asking why we are not truly designing”. If asking why is the essence of design, design is really a branch of philosophy.

Clear thinking

At the moment we have a professor from the Maastricht University embedded in our design studio. He is studying designers in the wild like an anthropologist would study an unknown tribe in Africa. One of the subjects of his research is the design process. I always found this an interesting topic and this is what led me to Chimero’s book: it speaks about the design process from a designer’s point of view. His insider’s view is a feast of recognition. What stuck with me the most about his description of the design process is the idea of clear thinking. Chimero has an interesting description of the way he works: he just “shows up” and lets the “context speak what it requires”. He says “it’s the designer’s job to figure out a way to have the problem show it’s actual self so he can respond to the truth that has emerged.” This is clear thinking: to see the truth about the problem at hand.

A designer works by asking why. Asking why is “a higher level of research, one […] that investigates the motivations and thought processes used so they can be applied in our own situations.” The why looks deeper. It looks past the existing solutions and into the needs of users to imagine better solutions.

Philosophy

When we start asking why and start thinking about truth we enter into the domain of philosophy. I have always seen design (and other arts) as a visual form of philosophy. One that is more elaborate than traditional philosophy because it not only thinks through words but also through images. Some might call this particular form of philosophy design thinking. When we define design as a branch of philosophy, the next step is to question some of the great thinkers of this world to see what they have to say about design. For me, there are two philosophical texts by Martin Heidegger that define good design.

The truth about your client and the Internet

The first is Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes (The origin of the work of art) in which Heidegger thinks about what makes an artwork an artwork. In short, he argues that for an artwork to be a good artwork it has to reveal the truth about our being. He uses a painting of a pair of farmer’s shoes by Van Gogh as an example. This painting is an artwork because it shows us the truth about shoes, farming, life, but also about the medium of painting and the state of the art at the time Van Gogh painted it. It’s beautiful and according to Heidegger beauty is the best way for the truth to show itself.

If we view web design as an art, we can transpose Heidegger’s thoughts on art to websites and arrive at a useful definition of a good website. First (and similar to what Chimero says in his book) a good website unveils the truth about the interaction of a user and an organization for which you make the website. Of course, beauty is important, because it is the best way the truth can show itself. Beauty connects in a direct way to the user. It works faster and more effective than only words. But Heidegger adds another important aspect. A good work of art, i.e. a website also defines the medium, i.e. the internet. So the question of what a good website is, is tightly linked to the question of what the Internet is. A good website shows us what the Internet is or can be.

A deep connection to the medium

Therefore it’s essential to have a deep connection to the medium you are designing for. This is the subject of the second text by Heidegger that defines good design. In his text Bauen, wohnen, denken (Building, living, thinking) he states that you first have to learn to live before you can build. In this text about architecture, he connects design to the understanding of the basic human conditions. He urges designers to connect with their subject, to live their subject, instead of looking at it in an abstract way. For an architect, it’s really easy to fall in love with drawings, abstract concepts, and models. But without a real connection to the life your designing for, it all becomes useless pretty fast. Just like architecture, the internet is also about basic human needs. We think of the internet as something that enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.Experience and broad interest in the things people do fuel the understanding and imagination of the designer.

The analysis of life through philosophy — asking why — is the basis of good design. Philosophy is the missing link between living and designing.

The definition of a good website

Just like art, design is in constant need of definition. I think the answer to the question of what good design is, defines the designer. So:
– design is about asking why (so it’s basically philosophy)
– web design’s aim is to find the truth about the client, the user, and the internet
– the truth is best communicated through beauty
– to find the truth about your medium you have to forge a deep connection to it.