There’s a long-running argument about whether design can be objectively called “good”. But what are we judging? We tend not to distinguish between the types of design that are highly objective and the types of design that are highly subjective. E.g., marketing and branding design has a high degree of subjectivity to it. When designing a brand, a professional designer may advise the client on design fundamentals like color and form, but ultimately the design cannot be successful if the client doesn’t feel good about it. Conversely, designing a usable user interface is much more objective: patterns exist, solutions can be tested, and we can often state with a high degree of confidence that one solution is (objectively) better than another.
This is a problem. Even among professionals, we tend not to distinguish between different types of design when discussing work. More importantly, when scoping design work, we confuse the meaning of “done” across various types of design. Designing a new logo and brand? It makes sense to plan for several iterations of client approval. Designing a signup form? “Done” can simply mean “a user can complete their goal”. To subject this to the approval of a non-designer client is akin to demanding client approval from your dentist or surgeon. When the stakes are high it may be prudent to seek a second opinion, but it’s ill-advised to say “I just don’t like your diagnosis. Can you come back to me with three alternatives by next week?