Expressive design guidelines and principles are here to deepen designers’ understanding of expressive design and provide actionable guidance for us to follow in our day-to-day work.
They help define a clear Design Intent Statement — a tool to deeply understand the context of our solutions within human life and establish clear, aligned objectives and intentions. This statement helps define how our design will impact users' lives and what unique value it will deliver.
The expressive design principles also aid in the exploration of the design direction—balancing the meaningfully functional, visually distinctive, and emotionally impactful. Depending on the role a product plays within its space and environment, this exploration leads to the two modes of expressive design: Expressive presence and expressive harmony.
For a quick check as to whether the design is heading in the right direction, the expressive design questionnaire serves as a practical diagnostic tool to assess whether each solution (spanning product, UX, retail environment, visual communication, packaging, and overall experience) meets Samsung's unique identity standards and design criteria. It can be continuously referenced from the start of a project to its completion.
The first step in the expressive design journey is to define and clarify the human context and intended meaning behind the solution we are about to develop.
The effectiveness of our design approach depends on how well it resonates with the intended audience and addresses both functional and emotional needs, while being consistently inspiring and culturally relevant.
Our design process begins with a clear understanding of:
- *Who the product is designed for
- *What users need and expect
- *What frustrations exist in the category
- *What deeper aspirations the design should address
- *How the product should differentiate from competitors
This culminates in the Design Intent Statement
— a tool you can use every time you start a project.
Design Intent Statement
For
Target audience
who
Key need or frustration
this design aims to deliver
Emotional meaning or aspiration
through
Key expressive design elements or design strategy
Example 1
For design-conscious urban professionals who feel that most technology products look generic, this design aims to deliver a sense of pride, individuality, and expressive identity through bold materials, distinctive form, and meaningful details.
Example 2
For busy families managing daily life, who find most interfaces overly complicated, this design aims to deliver calm, trust, and effortless usability through intuitive interfaces, warm materials, and reassuring design language.
Example 3
For young digital creators, who feel most devices look generic and don't let them express personality, this design aims to deliver self-expression and creative empowerment through customizable visuals, playful interaction, and distinctive color and materials.
guideline and explanation of this chapter.