Design Principles

1. Be inclusive, not exclusive

Everything we build should be inclusive. If you can’t make something inclusive, provide an alternative method of accessing the content.

2. Always put our users and their needs first

Do research, gather metrics, talk to users. Don’t make assumptions, you are not your user. Take time to understand the context of the user needs, what they want isn’t always what they need.

3. Do less

But do it better. Justify every pixel on the page.

4. Design decisions are supported by research

We use research and metrics to inform our design decisions. We design for the medium, with real content.

5. Enhance, progressively

Core functionality and content must be available to all users. We use progressive enhancement to add more elegant features for the latest browsers. We aren’t led by technology.

6. Learn from our failures

If something doesn’t work then we iterate, and iterate again. Iteration makes big failures unlikely and turns small failures into lessons. We are continuously improving.

7. Be consistent, not uniform

We should use the same design patterns wherever possible. When this isn’t possible, we should make sure our approach is consistent. We continue to work towards one global style guide.

8. Look at the bigger picture

Details are important, but don’t get lost in them, look at the bigger picture. Focus on how to make the whole process as straightforward as possible. Do the hard work now, to make it simple.

9. Make things open, it makes things better

We should share what we’re doing wherever possible. Share code, share designs, share ideas, share intentions, share failures.