Airplanes and Ashtrays

Harry Roberts wrote about design systems and how compromise has to be baked into them from the very start. He argues that we can’t be dictatorial about what is and isn’t permitted because design, whether that’s the design of a product, service or system, is always about compromise.

Harry writes:

Whenever you plan or design a system, you need to build in your own ashtrays—a codified way of dealing with the inevitability of somebody doing the wrong thing. Think of what your ideal scenario is—how do you want people to use whatever you’re building—and then try to identify any aspects of it which may be overly opinionated, prescriptive, or restrictive. Then try to preempt how people might try to avoid or circumvent these rules, and work back from there until you can design a safe middle-ground into your framework that can accept these deviations in the safest, least destructive way possible.

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