A collection of

design principles.
Volume 1

by Bresslergroup
Vol. 01

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
01 04 07 10
Nudge Hierarchy Circular Anthropomor-
of Needs Economy phic Form
Ed Mitchell

Ed Mitchell Seth GaleWyrick Ed Mitchell

02
Sapir-Whorf 05 08 +
Hypothesis Biomimicry Mapping Credits and
Resources
Kevin Tassini Seth GaleWyrick Ed Mitchell

Further Reading
06 09
03 Amara’s Law Rapid
Order Bias Manufacturing
Vlada Belozerova
Allison Kosydar
Eric Chang
01
NUDGE
A concept rooted in behavioral economics that describes how minor design
changes can markedly affect individual behavior.

Design nudges play off of people’s instincts in order to modify the way they behave or relate to their environment.

When designing a nudge:

1. Align incentives with desired behaviors.
2. Provide clear, visible, and immediate feedback to reinforce desired actions.
3. Simplify and structure choices when decision-making parameters are complex.
4. Make goals and performance status clearly visible.

Example: To reduce the cleaning burden in the men’s restrooms in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, the image of a fly was etched into each toilet bowl, just above the drain. The result
was an 80 percent reduction in “spillage.” Why? When people see a target, they try and hit it.
02
SAPIR-WHORF
HYPOTHESIS
A linguistics-related hypothesis that, when applied to design, raises
questions about how our tools influence our solutions.

Linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf wrote that everyone who speaks the same language “cuts nature up, organizes it into concepts, and ascribes significances” in ways that are codified in the
patterns of their language. He and his colleague, Edward Sapir, speculated that the structure of a speaker’s native language influences the way that speaker experiences the world.

When applied to design, it’s easy to see how the tools of the day define what’s dominant. It’s important as designers and problem-solvers to be aware of how our tools impact the way
we think, and to always push back on our constraints to come up with truly innovative solutions.

Photoshop Era Sketch Era

When Photoshop was dominant, skeumorphic Sketch makes it easy to create the rounded corners,
design — designing items to look like their real-world gradients, background blurs, and material
counterparts ­— was prevalent. design-inspired interfaces that define flat design, the
current trend in apps.
03
ORDER BIAS
Choices presented earlier or later in a sequence are more likely to be
selected. Anticipating this bias helps make products more usable.

User feedback is essential to product design, but it can often be biased. Biases skew results and lead to mistakes. One of the biggest challenges for user researchers is to differentiate
between useful input and bias.

There are more than one hundred and sixty scientifically-proven cognitive biases that can distort findings. One is Order Bias. Anticipating it helps us make products more usable.

Here’s how:
• To control for Order Bias during research, practice a method called Counterbalancing when testing two versions of the same design.
• When testing three versions, use Latin Square Counterbalancing, so each gets a turn going first, middle, and last.
• When designing a user interface, position the most important icons all the way to the left and all the way to the right.
04
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
For a product design to be successful, it must meet people’s basic needs
before it can attempt to satisfy higher level needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theorizes that humans are motivated to fulfill basic needs first, before they move on to more advanced ones.

Designers can apply this theory of human motivation to their work by first understanding and fulfilling a product’s core purpose. A product won’t stick around long enough to be loved
if it isn’t functional and reliable.

Creativity
Innovation
Self-
Actualization
Better than Before

Self-Esteem
Usability
Intuitive
Love
Reliability
Safety Consistant Performance

Functionality
Physiological Basic Requirements

Hierarchy of Needs, Design Hierarchy of Needs,

1943, by Abraham Maslow 2010, by Steven Bradley
05
BIOMIMICRY
A methodology for finding and applying proven solutions from biology to
solve the trickiest product design challenges.

Living things face the same challenges we do — they strive to be stronger, quieter, lighter, more efficient, and more sustainable. The solutions they come up with are elegant and
unexpected.

Product designers and engineers can ask the same question of different types of organisms and get a wide range of answers, because there are so many different strategies across the
five kingdoms.

Designers of ceiling fans have found inspiration in organisms that interact with water and air:

More Power Less Noise Max Efficiency

Wind Turbine Cooling Fan Single-Bladed Ceiling Fan
Inspired by the tubercles on a humpback Inspired by the leading-edge serrations on an Inspired by a sycamore seed pod’s accurate
whale’s flippers owl’s wings balance between the weight of its seed with the
length of its blade for efficient deliveryof air.
 06
AMARA’S LAW
Humans have a cognitive quirk that makes it hard for us to comprehend
how long it takes for a new technology to begin to snowball.

When you’re doing product design strategy work that looks ten or more years into the future, it’s essential to test your concepts against Amara’s Law, coined by scientist and futurist Roy
Amara in the 1960s or ‘70s.

“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate it in the long run.” – Roy Amara
This is why technological advances seem to happen overnight. We’re currently underestimating GPS and overestimating artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and autonomous vehicles.
Fifteen to twenty years from now you can guarantee we’ll take for granted something that seems totally wild today.
Impact of Technology
07
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
A system in which products are designed to be used for as long as possible,
and to be recovered and regenerated at the ends of their lives so waste is
eliminated.

This notion is also called closed loop, cradle-to-cradle, and zero waste.

Product design for a circular economy: Entails efficient use of materials and energy; use of recycled and recyclable materials; design for repair, take back, upgrade, and disassembly;
and the study of living systems — they’re total closed loops.
Laws requiring manufacturers to take back products at the end of their useful life incentivize the design of products that are easily disassembled, recycled, or fixed. The growth of the
sharing economy, in which products need to be more robust and easier to repair, is another trend encouraging the circular economy mindset.

Example: One of the coolest examples of how a circular economy can work is the city of Kalundborg in Denmark. A symbiotic network of companies incorporate each other’s waste
products as inputs into their own industrial processes.
08
MAPPING
A control should be designed so it correlates to its real-world effects. Good
mapping is when outcome meets expectation.

When you flip a switch, you expect some kind of effect. Mapping works best when the effect corresponds with the expectation. In product design, color, graphics, and textures can
influence mapping as can layout, behavior, and meaning.

Direct Mapping Learned Mapping Understanding Context

Primarily a function of similarity of layout, behavior, Layouts, behaviors, or meanings are known because Conventions change depending on culture and
or meaning. of existing products, contexts, or cultures. circumstance. (In England & Australia, a user flips a
light switch down to turn it on.)

Good Mapping Poor Mapping

09
RAPID
MANUFACTURING
Short-run manufacturing of complicated parts, made possible by special 3D
printers, provides new opportunities for designers.

Traditional Manufacturing: Most products we buy in stores are made using costly processes such as injection molding. These processes require designing and making expensive
tools — the more complicated the part, the more expensive the tool. This frequently limits designers to working with simpler parts. And even then, the price tag is not cost-effective for
smaller runs, and the parts can take more than a month to receive.

Rapid Manufacturing: 3D printing makes it possible to design smaller batches of complex parts in a variety of materials and to receive them within only a week. Features that would be
impossible to pull off using conventional manufacturing methods are made possible.

Example: American Standard’s Vibrato faucet, made using 3D printing, has waterways that are lightweight, hollow, and structurally sound.

As 3D printing methods continue to evolve and become more accessible to designers and engineers, we’ll continue to be able to further simplify assembly, cut production costs, and
make end products more innovative.
10
ANTHROPOMORPHIC
FORM
Humans are innately drawn to forms and patterns that resemble, in abstract
ways, human faces and bodily proportions.

Designers have leveraged an attraction to human-like characteristics to get attention for their products and to create positive interactions and relationships.

Consider:
• Favor abstract over realistic forms. (Avoid a trip to Uncanny Valley.)
• Gender roles are always evolving. The ones below may not always be relevant — consider current notions of gender and cultural relevance when designing with anthropomorphic
forms. Perpetuating stereotypes can be effective, but it’s not always the right solution.

Feminine Baby-Like Masculine

Coca-Cola Method Listerine
1915 “Contour” or “Mae “Dish Butler,” by Karim This mouthwash bottle
West” bottle was a Rashid, changed the echoes a strong torso. It
breakthrough design due perception of a dish blends abstract human-
to its distinctly feminine soap bottle into a piece like forms with hard-
proportions. that could be proudly edged geometry.
Use feminine forms to displayed. It combined Use angular forms to express
express sexuality, vitality, and sculptural and baby-like strength, power, and dura-
elegance. geometry. bility.
Use round, soft forms to
express comfort, safety,
honesty, and purity.
01
Nudge
Kahneman, Daniel and Amos Twersky. Choices,
Values and Frames.
Lidwell, William. “Nudge,” in Universal Princi-
ples of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways
To Enhance Usability, Influence Perception,
Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions,
and Teach Through Design.
Sunstein, Cass R. and Richard H. Thaler. Nudge:
Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth,
and Happiness.
02
Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis
Graham, Paul. “Beating the Averages,” http://
www.paulgraham.com/avg.html (accessed
December 18, 2018).
04
Hierarchy of
Needs
Bradley, Steven. “Designing for a Hierarchy
of Needs.” Smashing Magazine, April 26, 2010.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/04/
designing-for-a-hierarchy-of-needs/
Lidwell, William. “Hierarchy of Needs,” in
Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Up-
dated: 125 Ways To Enhance Usability, Influence
Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design
Decisions, and Teach Through Design.
Wikipedia contributors, “Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclope-
dia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti-
tle=Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs&ol-
did=874123352 (accessed December 18, 2018).
05
Biomimicry
06
Amara’s Law
Ridley, Matt, “Amara’s Law,” Matt Ridley Online
Blog, November 12, 2017; first printed as “Don’t
Write Off the Next Big Thing Too Soon,” The
Sunday Times, November 6, 2017. http://www.
rationaloptimist.com/blog/amaras-law/ (ac-
cessed January 2, 2019).
07
Circular
Economy
GaleWyrick, Seth, “Biomimicry for Innovation:
Your Amazing and Infinite, New LEGO Set,”
Accelerator Product Innovation Blog, http://
www.bresslergroup.com/blog/biomimic-
ry-for-innovation/
Website contributors, “What Is a Circular Econ-
09
Rapid
Manufacturing
Authors unknown. “HP Multi Jet Fusion
technology,” technical white paper at
HP.com, http://images.engage.hp.com/Web/
HPInc/%7B12bd7228-a080-4361-889c-
bc30e7d7633a%7D_Technical_white_pa-
per_4AA5-5472ENW_March_2018.pdf (ac-
cessed December 20, 2018)
HP. “Powering the New HP Jet Fusion 3D
Printers.”May 17 2016.online video. YouTube.
http://youtu.be/VXntl3ff5tc
Kellner, Tomas. “An Epiphany Of Disruption:
GE Additive Chief Explains How 3D Printing
Will Upend Manufacturing,” GE Reports,
http://www.ge.com/reports/epiphany-dis-
ruption-ge-additive-chief-explains-3d-print-
ing-will-upend-manufacturing/ (accessed
December 20, 2018)
10

Benyus, Janine. Biomimicry: Innovation

03
Order Bias
Kiryk, Adam. “Overcoming Cognitive Bias in
User Research.” Npr.design, September 7 2017.
http://npr.design/overcoming-cognitive-bi-
as-in-user-research-e4082f4506a (accessed
December 20, 2018).
Wikipedia contributors, “Response bias,”
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wiki-
pedia.org/w/index.php?title=Response_bias&ol-
did=874306042 (accessed December 20, 2018).
Inspired by Nature.
AskNature Team. “Fe2 Owlet axial fan by Zie-
hl-Abegg, Inc..” Asknature.org, October 1 2016.
http://asknature.org/idea/fe2-owlet-axial-fan/#.
XBqBbi2ZNyA.
AskNature Team. “Sycamore ceiling fan
by Sycamore Technology.” Asknature.org,
October 1 2016. http://asknature.org/idea/syca-
more-ceiling-fan/#.XBqBti2ZNyA
AskNature Team. “Tubercle Technology blades
by WhalePower.” Asknature.org, October 1
2016. http://asknature.org/idea/tubercle-tech-
nology-blades/#.XBqB4y2ZNyA.
omy?,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, https://
www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circu- Anthropomor-
lar-economy/concept
phic Form
Wikipedia contributors, “Kalundborg Eco-in-
dustrial Park,” Wikipedia, The Free Ency-
clopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index. Lidwell, William. “Anthropomorphic Form,” in
php?title=Kalundborg_Eco-industrial_Park&ol- Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Up-
did=853163843 (accessed December 19, 2018). dated: 125 Ways To Enhance Usability, Influence
Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design
Decisions, and Teach Through Design.
08
Mapping
Lidwell, William. “Mapping,” in Universal Princi-
ples of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways
To Enhance Usability, Influence Perception,
Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions,
and Teach Through Design.

Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday

Things.
A collection of
design principles.
Volume 1

by Bresslergroup