How giant websites design for you (and a billion others, too)
1,865,117 views | Margaret Gould Stewart • TED2014
Facebook's "like" and "share" buttons are seen 22 billion times a day, making them some of the most-viewed design elements ever created. Margaret Gould Stewart, Facebook's director of product design, outlines three rules for design at such a massive scale—one so big that the tiniest of tweaks can cause global outrage, but also so large that the subtlest of improvements can positively impact the lives of many.
Facebook's "like" and "share" buttons are seen 22 billion times a day, making them some of the most-viewed design elements ever created. Margaret Gould Stewart, Facebook's director of product design, outlines three rules for design at such a massive scale—one so big that the tiniest of tweaks can cause global outrage, but also so large that the subtlest of improvements can positively impact the lives of many.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
About the speaker
At Facebook (and previously at YouTube), Margaret Gould Stewart designs experiences that touch the lives of a large percentage of the world's population.
Julie Zhuo | Explore
The Year of the Looking Glass
My colleague Julie Zhuo publishes insightful posts on many aspects of designing at scale, and building and managing design teams, as well as general observations about our industry.
Randy J. Hunt | New Riders, 2014 | Book
Product Design for the Web
One of the rare books on the subject, this title does a nice job of putting you inside the head of a modern-day digital product designer.
Braden Kowitz | Wired, November 11, 2013 | Article
Should Tech Designers Go with Their Guts — or the Data?
Google has learned a lot about experimental design over the years, and this blog post outlines some interesting case studies and learnings.
Dan McKinley | Warm Gun Design Conference, November 30, 2012 | Article
Design for continuous experimentation
A thoughtful and entertaining walk-through of some case studies for product launches, and how experimental design helped Etsy make the right design decisions.
Peter Seibel | Code as Craft, June 21, 2012 | Article
Building Websites with Science
One of Etsy's former software engineers shares a broad view of the scientific method and how it can be applied to product development.
Aaron Sedley | Google Ventures, April 24, 2012 | Article
Change Aversion: Why Users Hate What You Launched (and What to Do about It)
Some solid best practices for managing the introduction of change to platforms with a lot of existing usage.
Clay Shirky | Penguin, 2009 | Book
Here Comes Everybody
Clay Shirky is one of today's most insightful and accessible writers on how technology is impacting society, and vice versa. I always feel informed, inspired and entertained from his work.
Jan Chipchase with Simon Steinhardt | HarperCollins, 2013 | Book
Hidden in Plain Sight
Jan Chipchase is one of the world's experts on emerging markets; his regular reports from the field are a fascinating way to stay aware of the bubble many of us live in while we try to design for the whole world. His blog is also great to follow.
Don Norman | Basic Books, 2013 | Book
The Design of Everyday Things
Originally published in 1988, this is a longstanding classic in the field (25 years is a long time in technology!) which really helps you see the world around you differently. We are surrounded by design, and yet we don't always have the vocabulary to describe what works and what doesn't. This book provides readers with a solid start to that vocabulary.
Jonah Lehrer | Mariner Books, 2010 | Book
How We Decide
Facilitating effective decision-making is crucial to great interaction design. When faced with choices, why do we choose one thing over the other? How might we help people make the decision that's best for them? A very accessible and interesting read on the psychology of decision-making.
John Maeda | The MIT Press, 2006 | Book
The Laws of Simplicity
This slim but insightful volume delves deeply into the concept of simplicity, and applies that principle in a variety of contexts, including design, technology and more generally our day-to-day lives.
William Lidwell et al. | Rockport Publishers, 2010 | Book
The Universal Principles of Design
A great introduction to design for those interested in understanding the hows and the whys. It's a fairly comprehensive overview of the concepts, terminology and theories that drive much of the conversation around design today. It's also something you can pick up and put down easily due to its easily digestible format. I sometimes refer to it, lovingly, as the Uncle John's Reader for design.
Stewart Brand | Penguin, 1995 | Book
How Buildings Learn
For me, architecture has always been the design discipline that has the most in common with interaction design. In this book, Brand considers how design changes — and must change — over time, but also how some designs endure while others deteriorate.
Scott McCloud | William Morrow, 1994 | Book
Understanding Comics
Entertaining and accessible, this seems to be a comic book about comic books. But it is also about something much broader: visual language and how it helps us interact and communicate. A great read for designers and non-designers alike.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.