Five Principles to Design By

Design, on the other hand, is about use. The designer needs someone to use (not only appreciate) what they create. Design doesn’t serve its purpose without people to use it. Design helps solve human problems. The highest accolade we can bestow on a design is not that it is beautiful, as we do in Art, but that it is well-used.

Update: Here’s a follow-up by Mark Boulton that I agree with whole-heartedly:

So, that is my One Principle to Design By. Solve the problem. Ah, but. That’s not the whole story. […] I’d argue that a well crafted, beautiful piece of design that solves the problem, will always do it better than one that just solves the problem.