Let’s clear one thing up. Design isn’t about making things pretty. I’ve spent over two decades in software engineering, product strategy, and human computer interaction, and I promise you, great design rarely starts with choosing a color palette or defining a visual style guide.

Design solves real problems. It makes complicated things simple, messy things clear. It builds trust, creates clarity, and yes, it can also make things beautiful, but beauty alone never saved a bad product.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About Design

Most people treat design like icing on a cake, an afterthought, something that makes a good thing better. But design is actually more like the recipe itself. Get the ingredients wrong, and no amount of frosting can save it.

Early in my career at Bell Media, we redesigned an entire media platform that served digital, broadcast, and print properties. Sure, it was visually impressive, shiny, and slick. But users couldn’t navigate it easily or quickly find what they needed. Within weeks, complaints skyrocketed, and we spent months patching problems. That’s when I learned good design starts with deep respect for functionality, not aesthetics.

Design is About Decisions

Every choice in design says something. Who do you prioritize? What do you believe about your users? Are you willing to exclude some people because accessibility seems too complex or expensive?

Great design makes deliberate decisions. At Omnigon, we built massive products for FIFA, Chelsea FC, and PGA TOUR. Every button placement, menu design, or navigation choice wasn’t just aesthetics; it impacted millions of interactions, which directly impacted the revenue that those digital properties were responsible for generating. We learned quickly that pretty isn’t enough. Every decision needed purpose.

Usability Isn’t Optional, It’s Ethical

If people can’t use your product, that’s not a design oversight, it’s a failure of ethics. I see too many products, even now, launching without proper testing and validation. They assume users will figure it out. They assume accessibility can come later.

It can’t.

At Next League, testing is nonnegotiable, from day one. We test, iterate, and validate relentlessly, not because it’s a design best practice buzzword, but because it’s simply the right thing to do. If a design isn’t usable, clear, and accessible for all, it shouldn’t ship. Period.

Principles That Actually Matter

Forget vague design jargon. Here’s what real world design boils down to:

• Function First: Solve the user’s real problem clearly. If your solution isn’t crystal clear, you’re not done yet.
• Test Early: Don’t guess. Put your product in front of actual users constantly, especially when it’s ugly, incomplete, or rough. Good design emerges from constant testing, not from pretty mockups.
• Say No More Often: Most products try to do too much. The best designs are ruthlessly simple. Remove anything that isn’t absolutely essential.
• Inclusion as a Default: Accessibility isn’t charity, it’s baseline usability. Every product should be as usable as possible by the largest number of people. No exceptions.

Real Design Moves People

Real design isn’t about impressing colleagues or winning awards. It’s about making something people need. It’s building tools that are not just usable but intuitive, empowering, and respectful. If your product makes life easier, simpler, or better for even one person, that’s design done right.

That’s what I mean by unleashing the power of design. Not the surface level shine, but something deeper. Design as a fundamental act of respect and clarity. If we get this right, everything else follows.