Summary Of “Good Design In The Digital Age”

Richard Buchnan delivered his opinion of “what is good design” in his article titled “Good Design In The Digital Age” that was included in Gain: AIGA Journal of Design for Network Economy,Volume 1, number 1 in 2000.

To begin with, for a general problem that a significant number of products fail to meet the needs of users, Buchanan put forward that a practical framework should be used to judge the quality the products in digital age.

What’s more, Buchanan compared the attention of good products quality in the past with that in nowadays and summed the present quality of good products up in three main points that are useful, usable and desirable.
(Between 1949 and 1955, the “Good Design” program promoted the criteria of good products considering the user’s perception and professional design, but its selection was narrow and ignored many other good products representing technological change. In the whole 20th century, the “good design” focused on form and function in isolation from its use in spited of its context in the user’s daily life. Today, designers explore “user experience” and products’ content.)

Moreover, Buchanan analyzed three central qualities of good design and how to build trust between products and users in three tasks respectively.
(Firstly, since content and purpose are the initial elements for selection of products, designers have to create a useful product that has the content with intellectual efficiency and clarity.
Secondly, usability offer user a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, so designers should bring grace, elegance and marvel into form and device, which enable products to be more deeply usable.
Thirdly, desirability plays an important and often decisive role in product selection, so designers need to add a “voice” of products to attract users and work with marketing experts to improve branding strategies. )

Last but not least, Buchanan emphasized the final step is discovering the balance of all three qualities mentioned above for products and users, which is a strategic design, and applying them into every individual case for seeking good design.