For too long, we’ve treated efficiency as the ultimate goal of design.
Form follows function became a rule instead of a reminder. But when every layer of an experience is stripped down to its bare minimum to be the most efficient, something vital gets lost. Form and function shouldn’t compete. They should complete each other.
Design has always been an emotional pursuit. The question is never just “what does it do?” but “what should it feel like to use?”
That chase between logic and intuition, between function and feeling, is where design comes alive.
“One of the reasons the tech industry is so creatively bankrupt is that people just focus on attributes you can measure.
I was very lucky at Apple, because Steve showed me there was a way to articulate things like sensibility, intuition, taste, which all start with a feeling. But first I had to make friends with this frustrating part of myself, which was the inability to articulate what I feel.”
— Jony Ive
To design well, you have to make peace with the frustrating part of the process: the moments you can’t yet explain why something feels off, only that it does.
1. Chasing emotion
The best designs make people feel something. Think of the calm clarity of Apple Notes, the playful warmth of Duolingo, or the quiet trust of a banking app that feels reliable and honest.
Good design turns function into emotion. People might forget the interface, but they remember how it made them feel.
2. Chasing intuition
Designers often make decisions that cannot be proven with data. A layout feels heavy. A motion feels abrupt. A color feels too loud. You keep adjusting until it feels right.
That is intuition at work, a kind of muscle memory built through experience. It is what turns something that works into something that feels alive.
3. Chasing empathy
Design is not just about your own feeling. It is about understanding someone else’s. You think about the traveler rebooking a flight at midnight, or the parent using a baby monitor app in the dark.
Empathy means chasing their feeling, noticing their frustration or relief, and shaping the experience to meet them there.
4. Chasing flow
When designers are in flow, the work feels effortless. Ideas connect easily, details fall into place, and everything moves with purpose.
You can feel that same flow in products like Figma or Notion, where the interface stays out of the way and lets your thoughts move freely. Flow is not just how it feels to design. It is how it feels to use.
5. Chasing harmony
Harmony is when every detail, from typography to motion to tone, supports the same emotional note. Spotify’s dark gradients feel immersive. Airbnb’s rounded shapes and warm palette feel human and safe.
That balance cannot be automated. It is what makes an experience feel cohesive rather than just consistent.
6. Chasing hope
It’s the belief that every problem has a path through it, and that each iteration brings us closer to a more generous outcome. You can feel that hope in products that make complexity feel manageable, where thoughtful details reassure you that you’re moving in the right direction. Hope becomes the invisible thread connecting the work to its purpose. Design is pushing what’s possible.
7. Chasing meaning
In the end, design is about connection. It is why we are drawn to products that reflect who we are, like a minimalist note-taking app, a joyful camera interface, or a tool that just feels right.
Meaning gives emotion depth. It is when design stops just working and starts resonating.
Design is chasing a feeling in what we make, how we make it, and how we care for it over time.
The real craft of design is not just building things that function. It is nurturing things that feel alive, human, and cared for. Metrics can tell you what people do, but only feeling can tell you why it matters.