In this exciting article about Apple’s design approach, Don Norman, who used to be VP of advance technology at Apple from 1993 to 1998, says:
”The hardest part of design, especially consumer electronics,” says Norman, “is keeping features out.” Simplicity, he says, is in itself a product differentiator, and pursuing it can lead to innovation.
Nice article on interaction design.
Frank Spillers has defined the design for usability. He breaks the definitions down to those for the Mind, those for the Heart and those for the Body which convey the true essense of design. I've summarized a short blurb for each definition below.
1. Design for the Mind
User Interface Design - focuses on user interactions and screen behaviors
Information Architecture - used to review, concept and test initial functionality
Interaction Design - focuses on how the user interacts with a page, application or product
2. Design for the Heart
Graphic Design - the "eye-candy or look and feel"
Interactive Design - great at graphic design and has a sensitivity and sensibility for usability
Emotion Design - concerned with the specific social, environmental, personal and intimate qualities of user experience
3. Design for the Body
Industrial Design - design for physical products
4. Holistic Methodologies
User Centered Design - involves three key activities: User research; UI prototyping and Usability Testing
User Experience Design - adds a more holistic element to the technique of designing the user experience
Experience Design - approach or methodology that penetrates all design decisions but with an experiential or environmental agenda
