LTYM - 36 Factors of Delight

Letters to a Young Manager

36 Factors of Delight, #436
LTYM > Innovation

Dear Sophie,

***

When you were a project manager, you saw a key part of your job was to get user specs for the project. Perhaps this was not the place to start.

I remember a presentation by an architect for our building committee. He said that he and his partner had identified 36 factors in houses and buildings that caused delight. There was a slide about hidden light behind a wall, one of the rhythm in the ceiling boards on a porch, and an entrance with a low ceiling that opened to a large atrium. Each one produced a very visceral "oh!" These were their design principles. Their brand was to elicit this feeling in their customers. They did this by including these factors in their designs.[1]

Notice that the customer (our committee) was asked to react to the slides and hear their story. "We like that" was what they listened for. And that guided their design. These were their "delight principles" and the dialog about them was more important than the specs for the project.

***

Sincerely yours,
Ed

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[1] See the architect Alan Shope's story of the tobacco barns where he grew up in Connecticut: https://www.shopearchitect.com/blog/architecture-as-a-reflection-of-human-potential and his current design principles, here: https://www.shopearchitect.com/design/design-philosophy

Takeaways:

Principles guide design more than specs

Discussion Questions:

1) What are your design principles?
2) What have you noticed that delights your customers about products?
3) Could you create a 36 factors slide deck? Where would you start?

For Further Reading:

See "The Dinner Invitation," Story #40