An Appeal for Creating Great Work

What makes a product great? Why are so many products and services terrible? These are fascinating questions and, like most fascinating questions, seem to remain one step beyond my grasp the closer I approach to scrutinize them. On one hand, I notice a new subtle detail of product design that met a need I didn't realize I had. On the other hand, I experience new levels of torture from products and services that I did not realize were possible.

No one wants to provide a bad product or service, much less a terrible one. But bad products are the rule and great ones the exception. Why is that?

The statue of David is undoubtedly a great work. What makes it so great? What struck me the most when I saw it was the perfect anatomical details of the statue. Michelangelo completed David in two years at the age of twenty six, but he had begun his preparation a decade previously when he began studying anatomy in earnest. By eighteen he was dissecting cadavers on his own, drawing and committing to memory everything he observed.

Jony Ive gave a talk a few weeks ago and characterized great products in terms of care. His observation was that the best products embody a deep, authentic, human centered concern that is obvious even in small, invisible details. Perhaps the reason there are so few great products is because most do not care enough about their customers.

This is a topic of study I have a deep interest in. What I would love to see is more people discussing the finer points of craftsmanship. How do you build great APIs? What makes a user interface delightful? These are subtle and rarely discussed topics. Mastering the fine details of your craft is hard and can also be quite boring. But, such efforts are required to produce anything great.

Consider this an open invitation to share the finer details of your craft. For my part, I'll be writing about what I'm learning about building great products—starting with designing beautiful APIs. If that journey sounds interesting, follow along or reach out with resources I should study.