Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

047 Design by Committee

A design process based on consensus building, group decision-making, and extensive iteration.

Design by committee has become pejorative in most design circles because the process is inherently inefficient and frustrating, costly in terms of both time and budget, and produces designs generally lacking in aesthetic appeal and innovation. Design by committee essentially averages out designs. But design by committee often produces superior outcomes compared to the alternative — design by dictator — because a committee’s designs better meet all requirements. The quality of a design, especially something complicated, can’t be evaluated on a single, superficial dimension, like aesthetics. Meeting a multitude of complex requirements ...