What about design is interesting?

I was recently asked this question by a friend of mine. What about design is interesting to me?

I’ve never really thought about the reasons I’d fallen in love with design. Most of the time, I just liked how something looked. Then it hit me that the way something looks is the first thing we notice when we interact with anything.

Is it short or tall? Complex or minimalist? Pretty or ugly? Colorful or dull? Modern or classic? Each of these subtle stylistic choices leaves people with a distinct impression. And it’s precisely due to this impression, imprinted onto people’s hearts, that induces them to buy your product or use your service.

Good design also serves a practical purpose. A product is good when the form it takes on (i.e. buttons, colors, shape) is in harmony with its function (i.e. what it’s created to do). This is because to make the user experience intuitive, every element of the design needs to serve a specific purpose, leaving nothing short or extra. So, good design also make people’s lives easier because we can carry out tasks more efficiently.

But great designs are what I am most interested in — the products that literally make people fall in love with them. You can think of the Aston Martin DB5, with its elegant exterior and James Bond-like charisma, or the Sony Walkman that made music, for the first time, personal and shareable. These cultural icons are what seize my imagination. I ask myself constantly: What is it about them that make us fall in love with literal physical objects, or even pieces of software?

I want to learn the secret to creating great products by doing it. My hope is that one day, I, too, can have the pleasure to say that I have designed something that millions of people use and love.