Christmas is a time for family, too much food and many other good things. One of these is these is, of course increasingly expensive electronic equipment to amuse the children. For me this year it was a pair of Nintendo 3DS for which I reluctantly shelled out more than my better judgement would have liked.

However, once I got one of them out of the box to set the profile I was immediately taken by the design which had gone into it – both hardware & software. Now, I’m not particularly taken by computer games but I was really impressed. This got me thinking about some of the key principles in designing products, services and solutions. Here are the first few that come immediately to mind:

• When designing, think of yourself as the customer
• Focus on function and outcomes not features or technology
• Products should be simple and easy to understand
• Focus on usability
• Attention to detail is essential
• Strive for a consistent user experience
• Understand the customer lifecycles and interactions and simplify as much as possible
• Deliver value

We always talk a lot about differentiating our services but interestingly Dieter Rams the famous designer (with his own design principles) once said “Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.” I subscribe to this view as a more sustainable approach.

I would be interested to hear from you if you have any views on any of Star’s products, services or solutions or any opinions expressed on my Blog. hharber@star.net.uk