How much of design is visible to the eye? When something looks good, we tend to overestimate how much of its success is due to visual decoration, or the way it looks on the surface. But what you see is likely just the tip of a much larger iceberg. Those designers who are innovating in ways that will change our world, are operating from deeper waters. They understand that true empathy impacts the bottom line eventually. They know that design is “how it works”. And they know that people rather than things are at the heart of everything that succeeds.
So the next time you see a product which really hits its mark, remember how much lies beneath the surface. Or, the next time you see something failing even though it looks ace, you’ll know it’s time to start asking the hard questions of how it came to be, and why.