What Is Good Design?

Good Design Doesn't Start With Design. It Starts With Understanding.

When people hear the word design, their mind usually goes straight to the finished product.

• The logo.

• The colors.

• The website.

• The typography.

Basically, what they can actually see.

After working in this space and building 1903 Design Studio alongside my business partner, I've come to believe something very different:

Good design doesn't start with design. It starts with understanding.

Before I worry about what something should look like, I want to truly understand why we're creating it in the first place:

• Who are you?

• Who are you trying to reach?

• What problem are we actually trying to solve?

• Why should they trust you?

It All Comes Back To Trust

Over time, I’ve realized that most of the work we do eventually comes back to one thing: trust.

Before someone hires you, calls you, fills out a form, or walks through your door, they're trying to decide whether they understand you and whether they trust you.

We are all unconsciously guilty of making these decisions. Simply, your audience is experiencing:

• Your website.

• Your messaging.

• Your social presence.

• Your reviews.

• Your brand.

• Your conversations.

All those little interactions begin forming an impression long before any handshakes.

That's why I don't believe design should simply make a business look good.

It should help people understand the business behind it.

If someone lands on a website we've created and quickly understands who that company is, who they serve, and why they might be the right choice, then the design is doing its job.

That's also why strategy has to come first.

Why Should Strategy Come Before Design?

We like to begin by asking:

What does this need to accomplish?

A client may come to us asking for a new website, but that doesn't automatically mean their biggest problem is their website.

• Maybe people don't understand their services.

• Maybe their messaging sounds repetitive.

• Maybe they're attracting the wrong audience.

The point is, have you ever heard that one saying about “assuming”? I want to understand their needs.

That part of my thinking probably has a lot to do with where I came from.

What Science Taught Me About Design

Before becoming a business owner in the creative world, my background was in science.

On paper, science and design might look like total opposites, but I've started to see them differently.

Science taught me to be curious & It taught me to observe before reaching a conclusion. It taught me to ask questions, look for patterns, work through problems, and accept that your first hypothesis won’t always be the right one.

This curiosity evolved to having an interest in UX/UI. It reinforced the idea that good design isn't simply about creating something attractive. You're trying to understand the person who will eventually interact with what you're building.

When I approach a client today, I still have that science curiosity.

I need to understand:

• Who they are.

• How they think.

• What they value.

• Their audience needs.

• Their true problem.

I didn't leave science behind when I entered design. In a surprising way, I brought some of it with me.

Where Does AI Fit?

Now we have another major shift happening in the creative world: AI.

“AI is a tool!”

I don't believe it replaces the responsibility of understanding people.

• It can help with research.

• It can help organize information.

• It can help explore directions.

• It can help with structure and strategy.

It can remove time wasting repetitive work that takes away from higher-level thinking. I believe we're only beginning to understand what these tools will eventually allow businesses and creatives to do as a society.

“AI can accelerate the process. It shouldn't become the process.”

If I don't understand the client, then no tool will help me solve that problem. It helps you move faster in a direction that may still be wrong.

The technology can assist, but it cannot care about the client's business for me. It cannot build the relationship for me. It cannot sit across from another business owner and fully understand the years, sacrifices, failures, customers, and ambitions behind what they've built.

That's the human part of the work.

Human-Centered Design Requires Human-Centered Business

A significant part of our growth has come through relationships.

• Involvement in our communities.

• Participating in chambers.

• Networking

• Conversations.

We don't want growth to come at the expense of the thing that made those relationships work in the first place: being human!

Marketing can become so focused on funnels, leads, clicks, conversions, and analytics that it's easy to forget that all of those numbers represent people.

What Are We Really Giving the Client?

The obvious answer seems to be that a design studio gives clients design, website, and a brand.

This is no longer the case, we now attempt to give our clients time.

As business owners we constantly explain the same things:

• What we do?

• Who do we serve?

• Why are we different?

• Why should I choose you?

• What happens next?

A good brand won't eliminate human conversation. Instead it should make those conversations easier.

Your website should already be answering questions. Your brand should already be communicating something about you. Your digital presence should be working even when you're somewhere else.

When all of those pieces are doing their jobs, perhaps the business owner gets something incredibly valuable back.

Time:

• to serve their clients.

• to grow the business.

• to be a part of their community.

• With family.

Because ultimately, isn't that part of why so many of us are building businesses?

Understanding Comes First

My path from science into UX/UI, design, strategy, and entrepreneurship wasn't something I could have mapped from the beginning.

Now looking back, I can see the connection. Curiosity, people, problems, and trust have been at the center of it all and shaped the way I now think about design.

I don't want to make something beautiful because we can, I want to understand what we're solving, I want to understand who we're solving it for, then I want the design to communicate that understanding to an audience.

Before someone becomes your customer, they need a reason to believe you understand them…and before they can trust your business, they need an opportunity to understand you.

That's why I believe good design doesn't start with design.

It starts with understanding.