At Daxko, we believe these principles help provide a framework towards good design. They should act as a guideline whenever we are working on a design.
Users First
The design process must start with identifying about real user needs and not my own. We need to understand their needs throughly, and recognize and validate our assumptions. We should also remember that what a user asks for is not always what they need. By performing research and talking to real users we gain a better understanding of the context of the problem they’re trying to solve. Do as much field research as possible. Phone is good, but field is better.
Learn from mistakes
Start small and release early. By releasing often and early, it helps prevents big failures and turns small mistakes into learning opportunities. Test your ideas with real users and iterate again. Often times, your first idea will not be the correct solution for the problem.
Design is collaborative
Be visible; work out in the open. In order for us to improve in our roles we must consider the opinions of others.
Simplicity is key
A simple design that does a few things well is better than a complicated design that does many things poorly. Interactions should be succinct and not overly complex. Our goal is to help a user to solve a problem quickly and efficiently without a lot of interference.
Don’t underestimate accessibility
Users may have a preference between a keyboard, a mouse, or even touch. We should not forget these users and also consider that they may be accessing our software from a variety of different devices.
Strive for consistency, not conformance
Whenever possible, we should use the same language and design patterns. When this isn’t possible, we should make sure our underlying approach is consistent. This helps guide a user’s expectations on what to expect.