Effective design

What qualifies a piece of design to be effective?

In our seminar we discussed that factors to evaluate would include visual, social and global factors. 

Visually effective design is down to personal opinion, as we all have different tastes. 

Socially effective design; can you place your trust in it to serve the purpose it was designed to serve and function well?

Globally effective design, what is effective in one culture, may be not be as effective and could even be offensive in another.

Must the design be instantly recognisable? I think this depends on what type of design you are talking about. If it is an advert, then the product it is selling must be recognisable in the design, but some design is created to make you think and so I don't think you can generalise this.


We were asked to find an example of effective design, contemporary or historical. I believe that the invention of the camera has to be one of the most effective pieces of design. Which model/make is slightly irrelevant to the point i'm making, as that has to be effective on a personal level. Taking practical issues like size, weight, price as well as personal values into consideration. What I'm taking about is the invention of the camera as an object and the ability to capture a moment in time.