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In addition to universal design principles, it’s important to have design principles that are unique and specific to your company/organization. We’ll learn about the value of having company design principles, why they are important, the process of creating them, and how to apply them. We’ll also get started with our course project.
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In addition to universal design
principles, it's important for
0:00
companies to have design principles that
are unique and specific to the company.
0:04
They serve as a guide for the brand,
and they define the key characteristics
0:09
of a product to both users, and
to those creating the product.
0:13
Having company design principles
also provides a foundation for
0:17
the company's design system, and
0:20
having a consistent vision of the product
across the entire organization.
0:22
It establishes the success
criteria that each design project
0:27
can be measured against.
0:31
Most importantly, it can help create
a consistent and purposeful experience for
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users.
0:37
Many companies have established and
0:39
published design principles
that are unique to them.
0:41
Let's look at some examples.
0:43
This website is a collection
of design principles for
0:45
many different companies and brands.
0:47
For Airbnb, they have four design
principles that are unique to them, and
0:49
that they've created to be the foundation
for their design language system.
0:54
Facebook has seven design principles that
reflect their beliefs and enables them
0:58
to evaluate and decide whether something
is Facebook or isn´t Facebook.
1:02
Although we won´t be creating
design principles in this course,
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we'll go over some ways to develop
company design principles.
1:11
The first step of developing design
principles is to reach out and
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talk to people.
1:19
It's important that you really know and
understand the company and product values,
1:21
the brand personality, and the experience
that users have with the company.
1:25
You can start doing internal
research by interviewing or
1:30
hosting workshops with different people in
your company, such as the leadership team,
1:33
product managers, designers,
engineers, customer support,
1:37
etc., to gain an understanding of
the business goals and brand attributes.
1:42
In these workshops or conversations,
1:47
some questions you might ask are,
if our product was a person, it would be?
1:49
If our product was a place, it would be?
1:54
What are some personality traits or
characteristics for our product?
1:57
And what is the experience we
want to create for our users?
2:01
The answers to these questions can give
you a lot of insight into how people
2:05
within the organization view
themselves and their product.
2:09
Once you've gathered insights from your
colleagues, you can also reach out and
2:12
talk to your users.
2:16
If you have a researcher on
your team who can help you, you
2:18
can work with them to compile a list of
current users and get their contact info.
2:21
Creating a survey would be the easiest and
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fastest way to get a large
number of responses.
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Then you'll need to synthesize
all the data by grouping and
2:32
finding common themes.
2:35
This will take some time and collaboration
with other designers and team members.
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Once you've identified common themes and
2:42
trends, then you can start
drafting the design principles.
2:44
Here are a few tips to keep in mind
when developing design principles.
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First, make sure that they align with
the business goals and the user's goals.
2:52
Secondly, keep it to about
three to five principles.
2:57
They should be specific enough to be
used for making design decisions.
3:01
They should be short and memorable.
3:05
They should apply to the whole system.
3:07
And they shouldn't conflict or overlap.
3:10
After you've developed a draft
of the design principles, you
3:12
should test it against the design team and
engineers to see if they are effective and
3:15
useful, and if they reflect
the collective voice of the organization.
3:19
Design principles can be used
to provide the foundation for
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your company's design language or system,
which is the overarching scheme or
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style that guides the design of a product.
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Choices for color, typography,
iconography, shapes, patterns,
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grid layouts, animation, etc.,
must be derived from these principles.
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Building a consistent
design language system and
3:45
a pattern library that looks and feels
cohesive across all products, platforms,
3:47
and communication is going to bring
this cohesive experience to your users.
3:52
Design principles can also help
designers make specific design decisions
3:57
when working on a project, and
even when critiquing each other's work.
4:02
When you're designing a web or
4:07
mobile interface, you should be
thinking about the principles and
4:08
asking questions about how you can
apply them to your design solution.
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While we don't know Craigslist's
design principles, let's say for
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our design project that these
are the design principles.
4:20
Discovery, create a seamless
experience for users to discover posts.
4:23
Basic and efficient, the design is
always basic and efficient for the user.
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Simple and straightforward, browsing or
posting an item should be simple and
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straightforward.
4:38
Consistent, users should feel
very familiar to Craigslist.
4:40
Now that we have these principles,
4:44
let's keep them in mind as we get
started on our design project.
4:46
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