Good Design in the Digital Age

Two big issues always hover around the concept of “design.” The first is, What is design? The second is, What is good design? Gain asked Richard Buchanan of Carnegie Mellon University to reflect on both issues as they relate to design in and for electronic, interactive media.

“Good design” is an important issue in current discussions of websites and digital products in general. The explosive development of the digital medium has flooded the market with a wide array of information products of varying quality. Many of these products are highly effective, but a significant number fail to meet the expectations of consumers or satisfy the needs of business. As competition increases, we wonder if there are criteria to guide the development of new products for the digital environment. Is there a practical framework we can use as a touchstone in judging the quality of new products?

• Download the article (364 KB, 5 pages)

...

First published in Gain 1.0: AIGA Journal of Design for the Network Economy.