Bryan Chung

Here is a summary of the Nokia Design Manifesto. It is inspiring to read and use it as teaching material.

• Products will arrive incomplete. Think of a white canvas on which people paint their own personal experience.
• It’s about unintended consequences and unplanned usages.
• Nothing is ever final: everything is open-ended.
• People want to get more involved in designing the stuff they’re going to use.
• Let’s allow for the possibility of play.
• Openness is key via an open platform approach, involving more alliances between companies and individuals.
• The task for a large company is no longer to lead the people but to become fast and nimble.
• It’s hard to predict exactly how humans will respond.
• Design has a social function and its true purpose is to improve people’s lives.
• Magic often resides in simple things. Become a fan of the mundane and do the ordinary exceptionally well.
• For a human being the product is not an end in itself but the gateway to a plethora of experiences.
• “Design dissolves in behaviour” Naoto Fuksawa.
• Too often, technology gets in the way and hinders, rather than helps.
• What appears challenging to you will seem mundane to your children.
• The quest for ease of use – making difficult things simple.
• Humans will produce more things collaboratively, in small teams, with peers.
• The designer has to reject an approach that pretends “I know best” or “We are the specialists.”
• It is time to focus on the intuitive at the expense of the rational.
• Craft ethical products that allow people to stay true to themselves.
• Think inclusively. A poor person has the right to be every bit as demanding as a wealthy one.
• The opportunity is to design not just things but to design the way the world communicates. Our capacity to change the world is phenomenal.