Ever felt overwhelmed by the endless list of rules for good product design?
You’re not alone. From “always test with users” to “keep it minimal,” the internet is overflowing with advice—some timeless, some outdated, and some that contradict each other. For startup founders and aspiring designers, it can feel like you’re supposed to follow a thousand commandments at once.
At Shark Design, we’ve seen hundreds of product ideas some brilliant, some rough around the edges. But the truth is, the best ones never came from blindly following every “best practice.” They came from teams who understood why those principles existed—and adapted them to fit their users, their goals, and their context.
In this article, we’ll share the foundational product design best practices that truly matter and, more importantly, how to apply them in flexible, human-centered ways that make your product come alive.
Going Beyond Assumptions
Let’s be honest, designers, founders, and engineers all make assumptions. We think we know what users want because we’ve seen patterns, read reviews, or followed trends. But even the most experienced professionals get blindsided by real user behavior.
At Shark Design, we once worked on a consumer gadget where everyone (including the client) believed a certain “smart mode” would be the hero feature. But during user testing, we discovered that most people found it confusing and rarely used it. Instead, a smaller, more intuitive manual control got rave feedback.
That’s the beauty of user research, it humbles you. It replaces ego with empathy.
Simple Research Methods You Can Start Today
You don’t need a massive budget or a UX lab to start learning from users. Try these methods:
- User interviews: Talk to 5–10 people who fit your target audience. Listen more than you speak.
- Surveys: Ask open-ended questions about problems, not features. (“What frustrates you most about [task]?”)
- Competitor analysis: Look at what’s working—and what’s missing—in existing products.
- Usability tests: Watch people use your prototype. Their confusion is your design goldmine.
Every great user-centered design process begins with listening. Research grounds creativity in reality.
Crafting a Problem Statement That Guides You
It’s easy to get caught up in ideas. But design without direction quickly turns chaotic.
A problem statement acts like a compass. It keeps everyone—from designers to developers—aligned around a single, meaningful goal.
For example:
“Our users struggle to track daily water intake, leading to inconsistent hydration habits. We need to design a simple, engaging way to track and motivate them.”
That’s clear. It defines the user, the challenge, and the desired outcome. When you’re clear on the why, creativity naturally flows toward solutions that matter.
The Magic of “Jobs to Be Done”
The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework adds depth to your problem statement. Instead of thinking about products, it focuses on why people hire them to do a “job.”
As the saying goes:
In other words, users care about outcomes, not features. A great product design team—like Shark Design—keeps this mindset front and center. We don’t just ask, “What should we build?” We ask, “What job are we helping the user complete?” “People don’t buy a drill; they buy a hole in the wall.”
Why You Should Never Skip Wireframes
Wireframes are like the skeleton of your product—unpolished but vital. They map the structure, layout, and user flow before anyone touches color or typography.
Skipping this step is like building a house without blueprints.
At Shark Design, we often start every effective product design sprint with lo-fi wireframes that let stakeholders visualize the journey early. It saves time, reduces rework, and ensures everyone shares the same mental model.
Prototyping: Your Reality Check
Once the structure feels right, it’s time to breathe life into it with prototyping.
Think of prototypes as the “dress rehearsals” for your product. They reveal friction points that no brainstorming session ever could. Whether it’s a simple clickable mockup or a fully interactive simulation, the goal is the same—test functionality, not perfection.
Start with low-fidelity prototypes to validate flow, then move to high-fidelity prototypes for aesthetics and micro-interactions. This step ensures your design decisions are guided by evidence, not assumptions.
The Human Connection: Core UX Principles That Build Trust
Consistency Is King (But Don’t Be a Tyrant)
Consistency builds familiarity. Users shouldn’t have to “relearn” how to navigate every screen.
Design systems—collections of reusable components, colors, and styles—help maintain that consistency. They reduce cognitive load and make products feel trustworthy.
But there’s a catch: too much consistency can kill creativity. If your design starts feeling robotic or overly rigid, loosen the rules where it serves the user. A little surprise or delight can go a long way.
This balance between order and flexibility is a key UX design principle Shark Design applies in every project.
Feedback and Forgiveness
Every action in a product should have a visible reaction. When users click a button, they should see confirmation. When they make a mistake, they should have a way to undo it.
This principle of feedback and forgiveness turns frustration into flow. It shows users that you respect their time and effort. A loading spinner, a progress bar, or an “Undo” option—these small touches add up to big trust.
The Look and Feel: UI Design That Serves the Experience
Accessibility Isn’t an Afterthought
A product that’s not accessible isn’t fully designed. Period.
Designing for usability means thinking about all users—people with different abilities, devices, and contexts. Here’s how:
- Maintain sufficient color contrast for readability.
- Use clear typography and adequate font sizes.
- Support keyboard navigation and screen readers.
Inclusive design isn’t just ethical, it’s smart business. Accessibility opens your product to millions more users.
The Subtle Power of Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is how design whispers, “Hey, start here.”
By adjusting size, spacing, and color, you guide attention where it matters most—whether that’s a “Buy Now” button or a key piece of information.
The trick is subtlety. Users shouldn’t notice the hierarchy; they should just feel like the interface “makes sense.”
At Shark Design, we use visual hierarchy not to impress, but to communicate. That’s the difference between art and usability.
Embracing the “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) Mindset
In a perfect world, you’d have time and money to polish every feature. But in reality, perfection is the enemy of progress.
A minimum viable product (MVP) is the simplest version of your product that delivers real value—and collects real feedback.
Releasing an MVP isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about learning fast. By observing real user behavior, you can decide which features deserve investment and which need rethinking.
At Shark Design, we often help startups build MVPs that balance ambition with pragmatism—fast enough to test, but strong enough to impress.
The Iteration Loop Is Your Best Friend
Modern product development lifecycles thrive on iteration. The process is simple but powerful:
Build → Measure → Learn → Refine.
Each loop brings you closer to a product that fits the market and delights users. Analytics, usability testing, and customer feedback fuel this cycle of continuous improvement.
Remember: iteration isn’t a phase, it’s a mindset. The best teams at Shark Design treat every release as the beginning of the next learning phase.
The One “Best Practice” to Rule Them All: Stay Human
If you remember only one thing from this article, make it this: design for people, not perfection.
All the frameworks, design thinking, wireframes, usability testing—are just tools to help you understand and serve real human needs.
When you start with empathy, clarity, and curiosity, your design becomes more than just functional, it becomes meaningful.
At Shark Design, this human-focused approach guides everything we do. Whether it’s a medical device, a consumer gadget, or a piece of wearable tech, we build with people in mind, never just pixels or parts.
So yes, learn the rules. Study the product design best practices. But remember that the best designs don’t worship the rulebook, they use it as a springboard to something better.
Bottom Line
The future of design is human, adaptive, and deeply personal. If you’re wrestling with how to apply these practices to your own product idea, we’d love to have a conversation.
Get in touch with the Shark Design team to turn your ideas into products people genuinely love to use.
