Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

016 Back of the Dresser

All parts of a design, visible and nonvisible, should be held to the same standard of quality.

Craftsmanship applied to areas not ordinarily visible to customers is a good indicator of product quality—proof that designers and developers have applied consistent quality to all aspects of the product. The principle borrows from an allegory shared by Steve Jobs:

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.¹

Thus, ...