Your Design Palate

I've had the fortune to travel over the last few weeks, visiting different countries and exploring new cultures, tasting new foods and cuisines.

One of my guilty pleasures has also been taking advantage of inflight entertainment to catch up on movies and TV shows, and to discover new content like the Masterclass series with Massimo Bottura.

Massimo's work at his restaurant Osteria Francescana and with the community in Emilia-Romagna is truly inspiring, both in his creative approach and how he celebrates the local terroir and producers.

In the Masterclass episode with Massimo, he shared the importance of developing your palate, your taste. He shows you how to distinguish the differences in olive oils, the different types of tomatoes and cheeses, the ingredients that go into the dishes, and the outcomes they produce.

Similarly, I’ve always thought that designers and those involved in crafting products also need to develop their palate, their taste. We can’t just wait until the design is finished and ask people what they think. Like all good chefs, we need to taste the designs we make in progress. Does it need more balance, or something to brighten the design? We need to adjust the design based on our taste.

How do you develop your design taste, your palate?

Similar to Massimo’s lesson, you can develop your design palate. It's not some mysterious, opaque skill that only a few people possess.

We do taste tests for wine and coffee, with food and similarly, we can conduct taste tests for design.

Here's an approach to develop your design palate:

Select a group of product designs, maybe 3 or 4 cameras, phones, furniture, websites, apps, even shoes. Then follow these steps:

Design Impression:

• 1st read: What is your first impression of the product design? What stands out, what calls to you? The color, size, shape?
• 2nd read: Take a more detailed look. What about the texture, the finish, material quality, and the small details like the radius of the buttons, the fit and finish, the attention to detail, the craft?

The Form:

• Shape and Proportions: What are the main forms, the layout, the structure of the design?
• Color and Material: How is color used? What materials are used, and how does materiality contribute to the form? Where do material choices change in the design?
• Visual Balance: Is the design balanced? Is there a clear hierarchy? How do the elements interact with each other? Is there coherence, clear choices being applied across the design?

The Function:

• Usability: Is the design intuitive? Does it guide you on how to use it? For digital products, are there dead ends? Is it inviting to use, and are the features clearly distinguished?
• Ergonomics: Is the design comfortable to use? What's missing, what feels like friction or awkwardness?
• Functionality: Does the design perform? Does it achieve the goals and the job at hand?

Designer Intent:

• Why: Hypothesize the designer's intent for the design. Why did they make the choices they did? Is it business, technology, and end-user constraints or needs they were addressing? Often, you can see the trade-offs designers had to make, try to define where you see the business and technology trade-offs.
• Brand: Does the design align with the brand? Does it keep the brand promise?

The more you practice these taste tests, the more refined your design palate becomes, moving you from "I like this design" to creating a skill that allows you to refine a design to make it better by providing structured feedback.