🎯 The 80/20 Rule: Designing What Really Matters
In design, not everything you create has the same impact. Some parts of your work matter way more than others — and that’s where the 80/20 rule comes in.
💡 What It Means
The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, says that 80% of results come from 20% of effort. In design, this means that a small portion of your features, visuals, or interactions often deliver most of the value to users.
In short: focus on the few things that make the biggest difference.
🎨 How It Applies to Design
Think about a website — maybe 20% of the pages (like the homepage, product page, and checkout) get 80% of the traffic. Or maybe 20% of a mobile app’s features are used 80% of the time.
By identifying and improving that key 20%, you make the biggest impact without wasting time on the parts that barely matter.
⚖️ Why It Matters
Designers have limited time, resources, and attention. When you spread effort evenly across everything, you risk spending too much energy on the small stuff. The 80/20 rule helps you prioritize — so you can deliver maximum value with minimal waste.
It’s not about doing less work; it’s about doing the right work.
🧭 The Takeaway
Great design isn’t about perfection — it’s about focus.
When you find and polish the 20% that truly matters, the rest naturally falls into place.
So the next time you’re designing, ask yourself:
“What few things will make the biggest difference for the user?”
If you can answer that, you’re already designing smarter.
🚫 What Is Feature Creep (and Why It Ruins Good Design)
Have you ever used an app that started out simple and fun — but over time got bloated with too many buttons, options, and “new” features that nobody asked for? That’s feature creep in action.
💡 The Basic Idea
Feature creep happens when designers or developers keep adding new features to a product after its main purpose is already clear. It usually starts small — “let’s just add one more thing” — but before long, the product becomes cluttered, confusing, and hard to use.
🎨 Why It’s a Problem
Good design is about clarity and focus. When you pile on too many features, users lose sight of what made the product useful in the first place.
The interface gets messy
The product runs slower
People get overwhelmed and stop using it
Sometimes, trying to please everyone ends up pleasing no one.
⚖️ Keeping It Simple
A great way to avoid feature creep is to follow the 80/20 rule: focus on the 20% of features that bring 80% of the value. If a feature doesn’t make the user’s experience easier, faster, or more enjoyable — it probably doesn’t belong.
🧭 Final Thought
Design isn’t about how much you can add — it’s about how much you can leave out while still solving the problem beautifully. The best products don’t do everything — they do a few things really well.
⚖️ The Cost-Benefit Rule: Designing with Purpose
In design, every decision has a cost — time, effort, money, or attention. The Cost-Benefit Principle is all about making sure what you put in is worth what you get out. It’s a simple idea that can make a big difference in creating smarter, more focused designs.
💡 What It Means
The cost-benefit rule says that the effort or resources required to create or use a design should always be justified by the value it gives in return.
In other words:
“Don’t make something more complex, expensive, or time-consuming than it needs to be — unless the benefit makes it worth it.”
🪶 A Simple Example
Imagine you’re designing an app. You could add fancy animations between screens — they look cool, but they also slow down the experience and take extra time to build.
If those animations don’t improve the user’s experience or help them complete tasks better, the cost outweighs the benefit.
On the other hand, adding a simple tutorial or a faster loading screen might have a high benefit for a small cost — that’s a good trade-off.
💼 Why It Matters in Design
Good designers constantly balance costs and benefits. Every color, feature, or layout choice should bring clear value to the user or the brand.
Will this change make the product easier to use?
Will it save the team time or money?
Does it make the experience more enjoyable or effective?
If the answer is “not really,” it might not be worth doing.
🧠 The Takeaway
Great design isn’t about doing the most — it’s about doing what matters most.
By thinking in terms of cost and benefit, you keep your design focused, efficient, and meaningful. In the end, both the user and the designer get more value from less effort — and that’s smart design.
🌟 The Golden Ratio: Finding Balance and Beauty in Design
Some designs just feel right — balanced, pleasing, and natural to the eye. That’s often thanks to something called the Golden Ratio, a timeless design principle that’s been used for centuries to create harmony and beauty.
💡 What It Is
The Golden Ratio (about 1.618:1) is a mathematical relationship found in nature, art, and architecture. It shows up in seashells, flower petals, the human body — even famous works like the Mona Lisa and the Parthenon.
In design, it’s used to create proportions that feel balanced and natural.
🎨 How It Works in Design
When you divide a line or space so that the longer part divided by the smaller part equals about 1.618, you get the Golden Ratio. Designers use it to:
Create balanced layouts
Size images or text blocks harmoniously
Position focal points in a composition
For example, when designing a website, you might divide the page so that one column is 62% wide and the other is 38% — a ratio that feels instinctively right.
🧠 Why It Matters
Humans naturally respond to proportion and balance. The Golden Ratio gives you a simple way to achieve that without guessing. It helps make designs that look intentional, even when they’re minimal.
It’s not a rule you must follow every time — more like a guide that keeps your designs visually grounded.
The Takeaway
Great design often looks effortless, but behind that simplicity is structure. The Golden Ratio reminds us that math and art work together — balance creates beauty.
Use it as a tool to find harmony, guide your layout, and make your work feel naturally appealing.
Hierarchy: Guiding the Eye Through Design
When someone looks at a design — a poster, website, or ad — their eyes don’t take in everything at once. They move in a specific order, noticing some things before others. That flow of attention is what designers call visual hierarchy.
💡 What It Means
Hierarchy is how you organize and prioritize information so viewers know what’s most important. It’s the visual roadmap that tells them where to look first, next, and last.
Without hierarchy, everything competes for attention — and the message gets lost.
🎨 How It Works
Designers create hierarchy through contrast and structure. Some of the most common tools are:
Size: Bigger elements draw more attention.
Color: Bright or bold colors pop out first.
Placement: Items near the top or center feel more important.
Typography: Different font weights and styles guide reading order.
Spacing: Giving elements room to breathe adds clarity and focus.
For example, on a poster, the title might be the largest element, followed by a subtitle, then smaller body text and details. The viewer instantly knows what’s key.
🧠 Why It Matters
Good hierarchy helps people understand your message in seconds. It makes a design feel organized, readable, and intentional — even before a single word is read.
Without it, even beautiful visuals can feel messy or confusing.
The Takeaway
Visual hierarchy is design’s way of saying:
“Start here. Then look there. Now you understand.”
When used well, it keeps your audience engaged and makes your message clear. In short — hierarchy gives your design a voice.