What makes a design “Googley”?
Posted by Sue Factor, Writer, User
Experience Group
Late in 2007, our User Experience (UX) group—which does user
interface design, visual design, user research, web development,
and user interface writing—set out to
articulate the principles that ought to guide Google designs
worldwide. What are the fundamentals that all Google designers and
researchers accept? Which approaches to design are particularly
"Googley"? How can we encourage teams throughout Google
to dream big and make smart design decisions?
A small team gathered to discuss these questions and define the
Googley Design
Principles:
1. Focus on people—their lives, their work, their
dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today's and tomorrow's business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people's trust.
10. Add a human touch.
These UX principles flow naturally from the
>Ten
things Google has found to be true and the UX group's
stated mission: to design products that satisfy and delight our
users. We described the principles as "Our Aspirations"
for two reasons:
We have a lot of work to do when it comes to
implementation.
Every real-world product will have to strike a balance between
all ten principles.
Still, we don't want to waffle too much. These principles
represent the User Experience group's declaration of beliefs.
With "Satisfy and Delight" stitched on our leotards,
we're determined to get up on the tightrope and start juggling
principles. Please applaud or boo, as appropriate, so that we can
make the next act even better.
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