“It looks like a human was involved in choosing what went where,” Marissa told them. “It looks too editorialized. Google products are machine-driven. They’re created by machines. And that is what makes us powerful. That’s what makes our products great.”

–Marissa Mayer, addressing Google designers, as quoted in “In The Plex” by Steven Levy

Hmmm. I think being people-driven, persona-driven, or market-driven is probably a better technique. Comments?

from Scott Sehlhorst at Tyner Blain:

It has bubbled up into the following perspective from me.

• A product that is great for some people, even if unusable for other people, is a great product.
• A product that is usable by many people, but great for none of them, is a bad product.
• If you wait until your product is “perfect,” or even “great for a lot of people,” at best you will deliver yesterday’s product and no one will care anymore.

via Comparing Products Part 5 – Important Customers.

Part 5 of a great series. I particularly like “A product that is usable by many people, but great for none of them, is a bad product.”

Time and time again, we mistake good decoration for good design. When we are looking for inspiration, we go to the same websites and the same showcases trying to get that added push necessary to create something we love. Now this isn’t a huge deal (especially if we are looking for a creative kick), but if we aren’t careful, we can end up focusing mainly on the decoration and beautification of a web site.

Read more about design in Focusing on Good Design, Not (Just) Good Decoration. While focused on websites, it applies equally to apps and enterprise solutions.