The Myth of Invisible Design
Let’s make products as visible as they need to be
One of the most persistent myths in design is that “the best designs are invisible.” There have even been books written about how to make your design more invisible, claiming the best User Interface (UI) is no UI. All of these books seem to spring from the Don’t Make Me Think school, where usability and efficiency are the highest values we can achieve in design.
While these values are certainly important, they’re not everything. Rather, products should be as visible as they need to be. There are thousands — nay, millions — of examples of beautiful, visible designs.
Let’s begin with a little design philosophy. When designers talk about invisibility, they’re (sometimes inadvertently) referring to Heidegger’s notion of “readiness-at-hand” vs. “presence-at-hand.” When you’re using a tool to accomplish something and you’re not aware of it, that’s readiness-at-hand — for example, writing with a pen. But when you’re aware of the tool as a tool, as an object in itself, that’s presence-at-hand. For example, imagine the pen running out of ink. You become cognizant of it as an object in your hand. You consider its form and color, which were there all along.
When the product itself is so pleasurable to use it makes the…
