# WHAT MAKES FOR GOOD DESIGN?

## INTRODUCTION

Most people have the misconception that good design is simply about beautiful interfaces and screens. But good design goes much deeper than aesthetics.

There are 16 characteristics I consider when deciding if my design is good or not.

1.) **PROBLEM SOLVING**  
I remember my Basic Technology teacher back in secondary school referring to glass T-squares as “beautiful nonsense.”

Why? Because although they looked fancier than the wooden ones, they failed terribly at doing the job they were designed to do.

The major reason for designing a product is to solve a problem. If your product looks beautiful but fails to solve the problem it was designed for, then it is simply beautiful nonsense.

For example, if a client hires me to design a product that solves the problem of patient’s booking consultations in their healthcare service and I build them a beautiful, interactive and fun platform that helps patients track their health needs, set reminders for medications and does everything else concerning the business—except solve the problem of patients consultation booking—then the product has failed.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/f0711d4c-e8a3-4dbb-bea6-fe21e3b09fa2.png align="center")

Fig. 1.0: Client Healthcare Platform with Problem Unsolved

A beautifully functional design was presented, but the original problem still exists.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/aa5ae0db-790e-4888-baf5-c98fc4dc9c5a.png align="center")

Fig. 1.1: Client Healthcare Platform with Problem Solved

**Good design identifies a problem and solves it.**

**2.) CLARITY OF PURPOSE  
**Every good design has a purpose, and that purpose should be as clear as possible to the user.

Despite how elegant your bread knife looks, if you mistake it for a kitchen knife and try to use it to cut your yam, then the design is flawed. Its design should give you a good enough idea of its function at first glance.

If you paid me to design an app to handle billing issues and I presented you with a more beautiful, more functional version of Duolingo, would you accept it simply because the design is beautiful?

Or, if I tried to be super creative and designed a Duolingo-themed billing platform that users couldn't tell what they were supposed to do in, wouldn't that be a failed product?

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/89379d5a-7771-402e-800b-d5828ebba366.png align="center")

Fig. 2.0: Duolingo-themed billing platform

Designing without a purpose is like moving through a dark room you've never been in before. But designing a product in a way that makes its purpose unclear is equally as problematic.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/b8da42da-2698-4eb8-af7d-967104ca0448.png align="center")

Fig. 2.1: Clear Billing Platform

**Good design makes its purpose obvious.**

**  
3.) EASE OF UNDERSTANDING**  
I once opened an app and found myself mentally buckling my shoes because I realized I was about to run through a maze. I needed to be a mathematician, a puzzler, a magician and a psychologist just to navigate the app.

There were multiple active CTA buttons, icons that didn't ring a bell, basic functionalities nested inside nests, and I couldn't tell whether I was using an e-commerce platform or a social media platform.

Everything felt so hazy that ten minutes in, I began to feel dizzy. I eventually managed to exit the app after multiple attempts, uninstalled it, and made a mental note never to return.

Good design shouldn't require users to solve a puzzle before they can use a product. Users shouldn't have to wonder: “What do I do here?”  
“What’s this platforms purpose?” “What do I do with this?” “How did I get here?” “Why do I need this platform?”

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/a90c7485-c047-488d-b737-bfb30da91d69.png align="center")

Fig. 3.0: Ease of understanding

The interface should guide them naturally toward the next action.

  
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4.) FRICTION REDUCTION**  
I have over five banking apps on my phone, but recently I noticed that I almost always use just one. Often, I move money from the other four into it before making my transactions.

Why? Simply because it has the best experience for what I need.

The most basic action of transferring money on some of the other apps can take up to eight or ten steps, while my preferred app gets it done in about three or four. That difference matters.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/fe8087c5-1490-4582-bc68-2a4ee319992f.png align="center")

Fig. 4.0: App with too many steps for action

Every unnecessary step in your product experience is an opportunity for frustration, confusion or abandonment.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/6668d24c-9ab3-42fb-9de5-140337e95641.png align="center")

Fig. 4.1: App with fewer steps for action

**Good design doesn't just make things possible. It makes them easier.**

**5.) INNOVATIVE**  
If your users switch devices and suddenly become unable to continue using your platform, there may be a failure in your design.

This is where properties like responsiveness become important. If your product only works well on mobile, what happens when your users switch to a tablet or desktop?

Similarly, as technology evolves, your product shouldn't become irrelevant simply because the environment around it has changed. Good design considers the future. It doesn't necessarily mean chasing every new trend or technology. It means creating experiences that can adapt, evolve and remain useful.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/11c5b8a6-3841-4211-bf40-dfbf6a6953e9.png align="center")

Fig. 5.0: Product that only works well on mobile

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/0f44e29c-48a8-4952-8f00-7161225d3151.png align="center")

Fig. 5.1: Product that works well on all device screens

**Good design should not become obsolete simply because its users evolve.**  
  

**6.) AESTHETICALLY PLEASING**  
That we say good design isn't just about beautiful interfaces doesn't mean your designs shouldn't be beautiful. Even Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone…” But He still fed multitudes with bread.

More often than we care to admit, what brings us into an app or website is its beauty. Beauty may not be enough to keep us there—it might just be another beautiful nonsense—but functionality can't keep us in a product if we never enter it in the first place.

Sometimes, beauty gets you through the door.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/04070bbb-47ca-4648-bf25-6d1f2385c559.png align="center")

Fig. 6.0: Spotify's Aesthetically Pleasing Design

Spotify shows that aesthetics isn't just about adding beautiful visuals. Its strong imagery, typography, spacing, contrast, and consistent visual language come together to create an interface that is visually engaging without making the experience difficult to navigate.

**Good design makes sure there's something worthwhile on the other side.**

  
  
7.) **UNOBTRUSIVE**  
Good design should serve the user without constantly calling attention to itself.

The interface shouldn't compete with the task the user came to accomplish.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/38504cc8-3a08-4eaf-9c24-6d856481c602.png align="center")

Fig. 7.0: SHEIN product obstructed with pop ups and ads

Animations, colours, illustrations, sounds and interactions can all be useful, but they should support the experience rather than distract from it.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/0193918f-45c0-473b-b69d-b3def9549e44.png align="center")

Fig. 7.1: Googles search page unobtrusive design

**Sometimes the best design decision is knowing what not to add.**  
  

**8.) THOROUGH**  
Design isn't only about the interesting parts; The dashboard with all its functionalities, the hero section with its sleek animations, the various button states and beautiful colours.

Good design also accounts for the uncomfortable moments—the boring empty state, the loading state that may seem inconsequential, the wireframes and low-fidelity pages, the sad error states and ecstatic success pages, the permissions pages, and the various other states users may encounter.

Good design gives equal attention to all of these. Because users don't only experience your perfect screens.

They experience the entire product.  

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/fc4a6c20-4439-4989-a419-6508070bd450.png align="center")

Fig. 8.1: Duolingo-themed billing platform

**9.) CONSISTENCY**  
Your buttons shouldn't behave or look different from screen to screen. Your text shouldn't scream “*PROFESSIONAL*” on the home page and whisper “*COME PLAY WITH ME*” on the pages that follow.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/5cc855cc-e847-4416-9672-99157830747a.png align="center")

Fig. 9.0: Product with inconsistencies

Good design establishes systems for: • Typography • Colours • Spacing • Components • Icons • Buttons • Forms • States • Interactions • …and more This is where a design system becomes extremely valuable.

When your product feels familiar at every point, users settle into it more easily.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/4d9b73fe-9676-4d09-80c8-71201ac9fdfd.png align="center")

Fig. 9.1: Product without inconsistencies

**Consistency reduces the amount of thinking users have to do.**

  
  
**  
10.) TRUST BUILDING**  
If your design doesn't help users trust your product—whether you're building a professional or security-centered platform, an educational or children's platform, or a financial or technology-driven platform—your users will look for alternatives they can trust.

Trust can come from many things: How clearly you communicate, how you handle errors, how you present sensitive information, how predictable your interactions are, how transparent you are about what happens next.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/e1e46770-9e12-4da7-aa25-529732601e4f.png align="center")

Fig. 10.0: Sketchy-feeling Fintech App

A product can function perfectly and still fail if users don't feel safe enough to use it.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/3c46244f-ec2d-47e6-83e9-73ee51ddfbbc.png align="center")

Fig. 10.1: Trust worthy Fintech App

**Good design builds confidence.**

**11.) CONTEXTUAL**  
The same interface can be good or bad depending on who is using it and why. You don't just use a colour because you like it, or a font because it's cute or trendy. The properties you use in your design should be based on the context of the product.

Ask yourself some guiding questions: Who is the user? What are they trying to accomplish? What do they already know? What device are they using? What might confuse them? What happens if something goes wrong? What is their digital behavior and technological strength?

This is why UX research and product thinking matter so much. A design decision that works beautifully for one audience may be completely wrong for another.

In the figure below, we have a beautiful screen from Duolingo, and next to it is a success page from a bank app designed to look like it.

If I came across an app like that, I wouldn’t be confident to leave my money with people dressed to play.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/9a23db57-83f8-4bf6-9a98-2b21a87dc6ae.png align="center")

Fig. 11.0: Duolingo VS DuoBank App

LinkedIn and TikTok are both social media platforms, but were not and should not be designed the same way.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/a65bbfb7-db3e-450c-91e6-5199afb2e9c0.png align="center")

Fig. 11.1: LinkedIn VS TikTok

If you took TikTok's highly immersive, entertainment-first interface and dropped it into LinkedIn, or designed TikTok like a professional networking platform, the functionality might technically work—but the experience would no longer fit the context.

**Good design makes sense within its context.**  
  

**12.) HONEST**

A good design does not promise users things that the product doesn't deliver on. Doing this short-changes your product by eroding the trust users have in it.

If a button says “Get started”, users should actually be able to get started. If a feature appears to be available, it shouldn't lead them into a dead end.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/16b18fe0-088b-43e9-bb84-aa950c0ba7ff.png align="center")

Fig. 12.0: Misleading product

Imagine clicking the "download app" button and being directed to sign up for newsletter.

Design is communication, and misleading communication damages trust.

Your download app button should lead to the right site to download the app.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/38485ae4-bb07-4ef8-8dce-2e26669647ba.png align="center")

Fig. 12.0: Honest product

**Good design doesn't pretend to be more than the product actually is.**

**13.) MINIMAL**

You don't have to use all the elegant fonts, lovely colours, sleek animation styles and everything else at once to have a good design. Good design is as little design as possible.

No more than three font choices, a consistent brand colour system, a defined animation style, fixed spacing and border radiuses, a controlled set of components.

There is beauty in minimalism.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/bf3bb6d8-3728-41f8-95f2-6af26e4f332e.png align="center")

Fig. 13.0: Minimal product

Not because minimal means empty, but because every element has a reason to exist.

**14\. ) LONG-LASTING**

Trends are cool to adopt, but don't base your entire product on a passing trend. Because when the trend passes, so does the relevance of your product's design.

A good design can feel current without being completely dependent on what's currently popular. Trends can inspire us. They shouldn't control us.

**Good design should have a life beyond the trend that inspired it.**

**15.) ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY**

Good design makes an important contribution to the preservation of resources.

Designers make decisions that influence what gets produced, how it gets produced, how much is used and, ultimately, what gets discarded. Whether it's through reducing unnecessary physical materials, creating more sustainable products or designing digital experiences that are mindful of resources, design has consequences beyond the screen.

Bank apps have successfully taken away to a great extent, the need for paper and printout in the banking industry.

![]( align="center")

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/c4d60dda-a3b5-489e-87e8-b365db27bf41.png align="center")

Fig. 15.0: Bank tellers, receipts and documentations in physiacal materials

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/6139a27d-25b2-4b1c-9871-a84b44f8f087.png align="center")

Fig. 15.1: Bank app handling all bank activities

**Good design considers those consequences.**

**16.) MATCHING BRAND PERSONALITY**

Your design speaks for your product. It carries its voice and tone.

Your product's design influences how users perceive it and, in many ways, gives it a personality.

Imagine a children's learning platform designed like a serious banking application. It might function perfectly, but would the experience feel right?

Or imagine a financial platform using playful interactions and language that make it feel like a game. The design may be beautiful, but does it communicate the right personality?

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/f00246a0-ffce-41a5-9cec-b35bd622eb9e.png align="center")

Fig. 16.0: Duolingo playful personality

Duolingo is a gamified learning app. It has a friendly, playful and gamey personality and it’s design reflects that.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/68d2a2af2894a927715fdeb1/4f9322b1-3e82-49f6-838b-62cf209c3690.png align="center")

Fig. 16.0: Udemy professional personality

Udemy is also a learning app. It has a serious, professional personality an dit’s design equally shows that.

**Good design doesn't just look good. It looks and feels like the product it represents.**

## **CONCLUSION**

So, what makes for good design? It's not simply beautiful colours, it's not fancy animations, it's not how many screens you can create in Figma. And it's definitely not how many trendy UI styles you can squeeze into one interface. Good design solves problems. It communicates clearly. It reduces friction. It considers context. It builds trust. It is consistent, thoughtful, honest and intentional. And yes, it can be beautiful too.

Because good design isn't about choosing between function and beauty. It's about making sure beauty serves function—and that function serves people. At the end of the day, I think my Basic Technology teacher was onto something.

A beautiful product that doesn't do what it was designed to do?

**Beautiful nonsense.**