The Ten Heuristics (or Techniques) of Great Designers
In William Lidwell's updated Third Edition of his book Universal Principles of Design released May 2023, he identifies certain ways of thinking that may be observed in great designers. This is a fascinating look at how they ‘thought differently’ about the problems and the process. Here’s a wonderful overview of these ‘Ten Heuristics.’
1 Elegant Simplicity over Conspicuous Featurism
2 Inside-out Craftsmanship over Bait-and-Switch Craftsmanship
3 Embracing Failure over Fearing Failure
4 Never Leave Well Enough Alone over If it Ain't Broke Don't Fix it
5 Reframing Problems over Accepting Problems
6 Customer Doesn't Know What's Right over Customer is Always Right
7 Analogical Insights over Analytical Thinking
8 Eat Your Own Dog Food over Observe Dogs Eating Food
9 First Principles over Fashion Trends
10 Zealous Missionaries over Indifferent Mercenaries
It boils down to perspective!
Remember, perspective is often a matter of how you position yourself in order to view the problem.
I have one client (retired now) who always thought of me as ‘the roof guy.’ He was a master builder and usually drew his own plans.
But on occasion, and it usually involved multiple roof connections, he’d call me. Now I don’t think I’m exceptionally brilliant with roofs, but I have developed a sense of how to study them. My client was looking for that fresh perspective.
Sometimes that perspective resulted in fresh design. For another favorite client, the collaboration on Eagle View, a mid-century modern mountain house, resulted in a really fun bit of roof design.
Initially the house was going to blend into its neighborhood, but the unique site seemed to demand an elegant simplicity all its own. We settled on three Miesian pavilions in programming it.
Now the living space, which filled the center pavilion, looked out on two incredible views. Seeing that led to me seeing the roof in a fresh simplicity.
In the end, it wasn’t about designing like Leonardo so much as it was shifting to a new position — a new perspective. It was that that allowed me to design like myself!