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Principles for Knowing When to Stop Designing

25 March 2026

Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing where to start. These principles help designers recognise when a decision has been made and when further work risks serving the designer rather than the user.

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How Many Design Principles Should a Team Have?

11 March 2026

Some organisations publish long lists of design principles, while others use only a few. In practice, effective sets of principles tend to remain small.

The Difference Between Rules and Principles

11 March 2026

Understanding how principles help with decision making starts with understanding how they differ from rules. Rules remove choice, principles guide choice.

Why Most Design Principles Fail

06 March 2026

Many design principles are really statements of values. Values describe what a team believes. Principles guide decisions. Values express intent. Principles help teams decide what to do.

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principles.design is created and curated by Ben Brignell.

Principles for Knowing When to Stop Designing

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Recent articles

How Many Design Principles Should a Team Have?

The Difference Between Rules and Principles

Why Most Design Principles Fail

Use design principles to make better decisions

Practical guidance forbetter design decisions

Practical guidance for
better design decisions