Designing Quality Products
Nathan Manousos
Lesson 34
It's time to stop churning out software and start creating quality products. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Design and Development tools are advanced. Let's focus on what really matters.
Great products begin and end with great design. Design should influence all product decisions. Even fundamental business questions like what to build, or how to sell it, should be treated as design decisions.
Apple's success has given the world permission to take design seriously. That doesn't mean treating design as important. It's much more than that. Design is everything.
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Don't Just Throw it Over the Fence
See to it that great results come from your designs. Most of what you produce as a designer gets thrown away. Functioning software is all that matters when you are done. Don't expect good results by "Throwing it over the fence."
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Saul Bass: On Making Money vs Quality Work
Adopt Saul's attitude of wanting to make beautiful things. It takes more time and effort, but as a designer it's worth it. This should be the way you want to live your life.
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Apple's Jonathan Ive on being brave enough to say 'no'
Listen to your tummy. Insist on quality and be honest with yourself when what you've produced doesn't meet your standards. It's easy to justify shipping something sub-par, especially when you've spent a lot of time on it. Say no.
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Steve Jobs: We Don't Ship Junk
Listen to the sincerity in his voice, this is Apple's secret. Don't ship junk. Decide to make things you'd be proud to recommend to your family and friends. Don't treat it as a business decision, treat it as a life decision.
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Relentless Quality
Sweat the details. Keep quality top of mind and don't slip. Be willing to spend what seems like an unreasonable amount of time addressing details. Your customers will love it.
