Herbert A. Simon Quotes

I believe consistency and orthogonality are tools of design, not the primary goal in design.

Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.

Design is everything.

Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.

Products have to be designed in a way that they are comprehensible.

The design of the Mac wasn't what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it's all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it.

Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.

Form must never trump function. Some objects are made to look so smooth, you don't know where to pick them up or how to turn them on. If I'm designing a garlic press or cheese grater, I need my hand to fit comfortably on it. I like to know, instinctively, how to use it.

The secret of good architecture is having more than meets the eye.

I always design the hat with the wearer in mind; otherwise, it's an inanimate object.

I'm always looking for a new challenge. There are a lot of mountains to climb out there. When I run out of mountains, I'll build a new one.

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

The designer must understand that form does not follow function nor does form follow a production process. For every use and for every production process there are innumerable equally attractive solutions.

I'm very ambitious. I live in reality but I have dreams I want to fulfill - I want to be a director, and I've already started my own production company. But I also have a measure of success that I keep to myself. It's something very personal to me.

In one of my recent books, 'The Success Principles,' I taught 64 lessons that help people achieve what they want out of life. From taking nothing less than 100 percent responsibility for your life to empowering others, these are the fundamentals to success - and to great leadership.

Like many people out there, I'm inspired by the level of attention to detail, design and execution of Apple products.

So much of design is context.

Things that are ultimately complex must have a simple end user experience if they are to be successful.

Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.

We always correct people who say, 'You're trying to make this look better.' Well yes, we want it to look better, but that's easy. The look and the function are one and the same. They are not separate. It looks good because it functions beautifully. That message is very hard.

A true architect is not an artist but an optimistic realist. They take a diverse number of stakeholders, extract needs, concerns, and dreams, then create a beautiful yet tangible solution that is loved by the users and the community at large. We create vessels in which life happens.

In designing hardware to be used every day, it was important to keep both the human aspects and the machine in mind. What looks good also often feels good.

All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable.

Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.

I'd go fishing and always pretend I would catch the biggest fish. I'd stay out there for hours after everybody else left until I caught something. When I shot baskets, I was always the coach and star player and always made the winning shot.