9 Must-Know Product Design Principles for Designers & Founders

Collin Harsin

Agile Product Development

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Product design principles are core tenants that you guide your whole team. They create cohesion in the design process, and ultimately, your product design best practices. 

Arguably more important is that product design principles help your team’s decision-making. 

Here is a list of our top product design principles—including design principles examples— every designer and founder should know.

9 essential product design principles infographic

1. Start with the problem

Starting with the problem is the top product design philosophy. Moving from problem to decision and solution quickly is great when you're deciding on where to eat. When you’re creating product for thousands if not millions of people, not so much. Without a deep analysis of the problem, you risk investing time and resources in solutions that don’t fully address user needs.

Starting with the problem relies on empathizing with the customer. Get to know their environment, their constraints, and their expectations. Understand what issues they face, what they’re saying about those issues, and, equally important, what they aren’t saying. With this information, you can clearly define the problem through a comprehensive problem statement.

A strong problem statement contains three main parts:

Outcome they want - Refers to customer needs, not to a specific feature.

  • Focus on the outcome or solution the customer desires, rather than a specific feature. As Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

  • A customer may ask for a specific feature because that is the only way they know how to solve the problem. It’s your job as the product owner to see beyond that to their actual needs.

Driver - The agitation behind the feedback.

  • Why is this issue a problem? A combination of qualitative and quantitative data can help reveal the root cause. 

  • Applying techniques like “Why-How Laddering” can uncover deeper drivers and ensure your team addresses the problem at its core.

Problems with the status quo - Analyze why the current solution isn’t up to snuff.

  • By understanding the outcome users want and the reasons behind their dissatisfaction with existing solutions, you can identify specific inadequacies. Are key features missing? Is something not working as intended? Or perhaps it’s being used in an unexpected way?

Square and the challenge of mobile payments

Square exemplifies the “start with the problem” principle. They addressed a fundamental pain point for small businesses: the inability to accept credit card payments without complex, expensive equipment. 

Small business owners and freelancers wanted a simple, affordable way to accept payments on the go. Traditional POS systems were too costly and bulky for their needs. By focusing on this problem, Square designed a compact card reader that plugs into a mobile device, allowing anyone to process payments almost anywhere.

This approach allowed Square to meet a real need in the market, giving small businesses an accessible solution that was both affordable and easy to use. Square’s success illustrates how deeply understanding a problem can lead to innovative solutions that transform an industry.

2. Serve your users first and the rest will follow

The design thinking process starts with empathizing with your customers. And ends (though not really) with testing your products with them. From concept to testing and beyond, user interests should be one of your primary product development principles. 

This isn’t always easy—product teams often have to balance user needs with business goals. Ideally, you want to hit the sweet spot between these objectives. But if history shows anything, it’s that making design decisions with users as the priority often leads to long-term business success.

Serving users first often means personalizing the experience and continuously gathering feedback to anticipate needs. This allows product teams to stay agile and responsive, making adjustments that keep the user experience fresh and relevant.

And, you don’t have to do this blind. Metrics like retention rates, engagement scores, and customer satisfaction surveys can help you quantify the benefits of a user-first approach. When tracked consistently, these metrics reinforce the connection between a user-centered design and positive business outcomes.

Netflix and personalized content discovery

Netflix’s success is built on an unwavering focus on user satisfaction through personalization. Instead of simply offering a massive content library, Netflix uses advanced algorithms to recommend shows and movies based on each viewer’s preferences, habits, and viewing history. Netflix spares users from endless scrolling and provides a viewing experience that feels uniquely catered to them.

Netflix continually refines this experience by testing everything from cover images to show rankings, making subtle adjustments based on user responses. This commitment to continuous improvement based on user feedback allows Netflix to maintain its edge in an increasingly crowded streaming market.

3. Stay agile

In product development, staying agile means being able to adapt, pivot, and respond to changes quickly. Agility isn’t just about fast movement; it’s about strategic flexibility—knowing when to shift focus, scrap ideas, or refine features based on real user feedback and evolving market conditions.

For product design, staying agile involves several key principles:

  • Break down development into incremental stages and prioritize releasing early versions for testing. 

  • These early versions or MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) allow you to gather valuable insights, identify issues, and pivot quickly before investing significant resources. 

  • Testing and learning early and often is essential in preventing costly rework and maintaining product alignment with real user needs.

Another important element of agility is cross-functional collaboration. When design, development, and product teams work closely, they can react faster to insights and coordinate solutions across functions. This flexibility is crucial for building a product that aligns with user expectations and business goals alike.

Samsung’s agile transformation

In 1997, Samsung was forced to adopt an agile mindset in response to the East Asian financial crisis. Facing heavy financial losses, Samsung pivoted its strategy from mass-market, low-cost products to premium, high-end electronics. This shift required fast-paced innovation, with small, cross-functional teams leading product design and development. Samsung also established its Product Innovation Team (PIT), which focused on R&D for emerging technologies. The agility Samsung adopted during this period not only stabilized the company but set it on a path to becoming a global leader in high-quality consumer electronics.

4. Good design is understandable and intuitive

We’ve all picked up a product or looked at directions, and we’re immediately intimidated by the complexity. So much so that we put it down.The less time they spend figuring your product out, the more time they can spend utilizing it.

Intuitive design lets users immediately understand and use a product with ease, reducing frustration and boosting engagement. Here are key elements to consider for creating an intuitive experience:

  • Mental models – Design with familiar patterns in mind so new features feel natural and expected.

  • Usability testing – Test with real users to spot and fix areas where they might struggle, simplifying interactions as needed.

  • Consistency and feedback – Use cohesive icons, colors, and animations to guide users and confirm their actions.

  • Accessibility – Ensure readability, high-contrast visuals, and straightforward navigation for inclusivity.

Apple’s user-centered simplicity

Apple is a standard bearer of intuitive design. They have carried the principle from the legendary industrial designer Dieter Rams and put it to use on many products such as the iPod. Making easy to use products that feel familiar and accessible, using clean layouts, consistent icons, and features like VoiceOver for accessibility have been at the forefront of Apple's approach. This focus on simplicity and ease of use keeps Apple’s great product design popular and its users loyal.

5. Create a consistent experience

Humans are complicated. We don’t like change, but we praise progress. If you create a useful but alien product. Many users will shy away from it. Great design strikes a balance between the known and the new.

Consistency promotes adoption and expansion by fostering familiarity and trust. When design elements—such as layout, navigation, and icons—are standardized, users don’t have to relearn the interface with each new feature or tool. This makes the product easier and more enjoyable to use. Consistency also reinforces brand identity and creates a unified experience that users can rely on across platforms and interactions.

When creating a consistent experience consider:

  • Use the same icons, colors, and typography across all parts of the product to maintain visual harmony.

  • Keep menus, toolbars, and layouts predictable so users can quickly find what they need.

  • Make features and interactions follow similar patterns so they are easy to learn and use across different tools.

Microsoft Office Suite’s cohesive user experience

Have you ever used Microsoft Word or Excel? How about PowerPoint? While each of these programs have different use cases, being able to navigate one means you’ll be able to navigate the others. That's because Microsoft Office Suite set out to do just that—consistency across products. Each application follows the same design language, from icon style to menu layout, so users can transition between them without relearning navigation or functionality. This consistent design is a major reason Office has remained a go-to productivity tool for users worldwide.

6. You can’t out-manage bad talent, and good talent can’t outwork bad materials

Your two most important aspects of product design are the talent you hire and the tools they work with. Talented teams paired with quality resources can work efficiently and innovate; however, even the best talent can’t succeed with outdated or incompatible tools. Mismatched talent and tools lead to costly delays, lower productivity, and a compromised user experience.

DevSquad and Musician’s Toolkit

Musician’s Toolkit initially faced delays and setbacks due to misaligned talent and resources, stalling product launch and user growth. DevSquad stepped in, rebuilt the platform in three months, and connected multiple services, creating a seamless user experience. By aligning skilled developers with appropriate tools, Musician’s Toolkit was able to reach profitability and market growth swiftly.

7. Emulation and innovation are not exclusive.

Emulation—drawing inspiration from proven ideas—doesn’t hinder innovation; rather, it creates a foundation to build from. Apple didn’t create the first iPhone, nor Microsoft the first computer.

Studying successful strategies and adapting them allows product teams to fast-track development while focusing their creative energy on unique improvements.

A balanced approach to emulation and innovation allows companies to leverage industry best practices without reinventing the wheel. The products that are then created  ultimately feel both familiar and fresh. Emulate to learn, then innovate to lead.

Emulate product management strategies, methods and principles of companies you admire. Then innovate based on your own needs.

Spotify’s streaming evolution

Spotify didn’t invent digital music but transformed it. They emulated existing platforms and innovated a streaming model centered on personalized playlists and discovery features. This combination of emulation and unique enhancements made Spotify the leading music-streaming service worldwide.

8. Guesses make messes

You know what they say about you, me, and assuming… right?

Relying on assumptions instead of customer insights often leads to misguided decisions, wasted resources, and frustrated users. 

Just because you found early success, doesn’t mean you’ll sustain it. Product decisions should be informed by data and real feedback to avoid costly mistakes.

Buffer’s lesson in user feedback

Buffer, the social media toolkit company, learned this the hard way when it rolled out features like content suggestions that users hadn’t requested. This misalignment led to financial setbacks, lost jobs, and a loss of users. After refocusing on feedback-driven development, Buffer regained user trust and stabilized growth. 

9. What works now will not work forever

Your product must evolve with its customers. This means keeping the development pipeline filled with what you believe will enhance the user experience.

Here are the 4 phases of the development pipeline.

4 phases of the development pipeline

  1. Ideas - problems that you’re looking at solving.

  2. Development- prototypes for the problems you’ve decided to solve.

  3. Testing - getting feedback on prototypes and iterating.

  4. Ready to launch - features/products that are ready for mass user feedback.

How to keep the development pipeline filled.

  • Let creatives create.

  • Analyze user feedback and habits.

  • Turn that information into actionable steps.

  • Rinse and repeat.

Not every product iteration will be a hit. But value all feedback because it allows you to deepen your understanding of the user. You keep users engaged when you show you are active with the product they enjoy.

Nintendo’s evolution in gaming

Nintendo is a great example of this forever transformation. They have continually adapted their products to keep up with changing trends. Moving from traditional gaming consoles to innovative platforms like the Wii and Switch allowed Nintendo to stay relevant—all while maintaining consistency in their brand.

Key takeaways

Product design principles provide a roadmap for building products that resonate with users and evolve over time. Balancing emulation with innovation, prioritizing user-centered decisions, staying agile, and continually refining based on feedback are essential for long-term success. Consistency, clear communication, and adaptable development pipelines enable product teams to respond to changing needs, creating products that are both impactful and enduring.

And, remember you don’t have to tackle all these on your own when designing products. At DevSquad, we take product design seriously. That means believing in the products we help build and providing strategy towards upholding these valued design principles. We treat every project like the product it is.

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