Strange figurative wording aside, I think the author is reiterating that, in order to go "above and beyond" and stand out from the competition, you have to create something novel and radical. And directed more towards art and creative fields.<p>"Good design" is following all the classic design tips. Like a material website that implements material design correctly, is good design. And this is actually OK and better than "great design" for most situations.<p>"Great design" needs to stand out. And the only way to stand out is to do something weird. Take some fancy website made out of ASCII: not something you should write your IT software in, but maybe good for a portfolio.<p>Radical "great design" is really good for art and music: almost nobody cares about a beautiful portrait, people want something strange and creative. It's really bad for software architecture "design": when writing code, you practically never want to stray from the obvious, traditional path. For UX design and websites it's somewhere in the middle, and depends on what the software is for (e.g. business solution UX is less creative, video game is more creative UX).
TL; DR [without the labels]<p><pre><code> is usable. challenges.
solves problems. enriches the soul.
functional. is fulfilling.
is invisible. is in your face.
is good process. is usually messy.
is familiar. is uncomfortable.
optimizes. discovers.
is consistent. is unexpected.
follows patterns. sets the new patterns.
is understandable. opens new vistas.
is clear. leaves room for interpretation.
gets out of the way. has something to say.
is for all. is for you.
</code></pre>
You can decide for yourself which is better.
Interface design has a utilitarian purpose, it's not "art", it's like a hammer, a handy tool to complete a task.
However, some designers think they are "artists" and they need to "stand out" from the crowd and get some "design" award. Making good tools that help people with their life is a fulfilling pursuit in itself. Don't torment your users with "great design".
I actually have a lot of criticism for their designs, but I’m going to hold my tongue since they make a calculator app for the iPad and don’t charge money for its or feature creep their way from calculator into social media.<p>Edit.<p>Whoops. I spoke too soon.<p>I downloaded the app, and it says I have a week to decide if I want to pay 14$ a month for it.<p>A month! For a calculator app!
His apps are badly designed wrapped up in loud visual design that’s trying to do / say too much.<p>Just adding 3d doesn’t mean you’ve stumbled upon a new era of interface design.