Gomaar Zijl - productontwerp.nl
In my eyes, a good design is a product that serves its goal. Sometimes it's the final user who has to be satisfied in various aspects.
Sometimes it's the salesman of the product who is satisfied with a packaging the end user will only look at when buying and maybe throws it away after unpacking the product. There is no 'best design' in general.
A good design is a design in which all possibilities are considered well against each other.
Possibilities of the time in which we live. Possibilities concerning materials. Possibilities concerning technologies. Good design is about products of which the desired goal can be reached by efficiency. But this desired goal should be outlined with care. With care for society. With care for the world. A design has to be introduced on the market at the right time at the right place. A design which sells well, on which the producer makes a lot of profit is a good design. Good for the manufacturer. Maybe also good for some people using it. But maybe it's not a wise design. Maybe it's causing more than it adds value to the goal to be reached. Damage to the environment. Damage to groups of people who have to produce it. People in third world countries.
Sometimes a design looks exciting, sells very well. It's a good design.
On short term maybe. But maybe not on long term. We live in a time of mass production. Products are produced in gigantic amounts. Products we need. And products we don't need. Or are we step by step needing more and more products we didn't use to need? As the living standard of a lot of people is getting higher, as the markets are flooded more and more by mass produced products, these products are giving a lot of prosperity but are also responsible for a lot of trouble in the world.