Grug Design: gives design advice on pages and advocates a simple and pragmatic product design philosophy.

Grug.design is a website that explains the philosophy of product design, which borrows the character of a primitive man named "Grug" to express the criticism of the trend of over-complexity in the modern design field from a first-person point of view in very simple and even a little rough language. The core idea of the site is that complexity is bad, simplicity is good. It advocates that designers should get back to basics and focus on solving problems quickly and efficiently, rather than pursuing fancy visual effects, complex tool flows, or cumbersome design system rules. Through Grug's eyes, the site looks at design tools, design systems, information density, collaboration processes, and how to treat the opinions of "stakeholders" to promote a more pragmatic, intuitive, and user-centered approach to design.

Function List

• Resisting complexity:: The website advocates avoiding complex design tools with too many buttons and options, and design systems with too many rules, believing that too many rules stifle efficiency and creativity.
• The quest for clarity:: Design elements should be intuitive and easy to understand. For example, a button should look like a button, and the meaning of the icon should be clear and unambiguous, so that the user doesn't need additional textual cues to explain it when they see it.
• Emphasis on information density:: Unlike many modern design trends, the website believes that good design should present information quickly and clearly, rather than over-worshipping "white space". Too much white space increases the number of times a user scrolls through a page and tires the brain. [1. 1]
• Embrace simple tools: Promote the use of basic tools such as grid systems to keep interfaces clean and organized, rather than blindly trusting some "smart" or "magical" auto-layout feature.
• Insist on effective communication:: Emphasize that designers should collaborate with developers as early as possible, rather than throwing completed designs "over the wall". Designers need to understand the limitations of the technology and provide clear, achievable and specific design parameters.
• Protecting the user experience:: The designer's priority is to protect the user experience, and needs to be able to filter out unconstructive feedback from "stakeholders" and prioritize the real needs of the user.

Using Help

This site is not a software tool per se, there is no installation or registration process. It is "used" by reading, understanding and practicing the design philosophy embedded in it. Below is a detailed guide to understanding and applying the Grug Design Philosophy:

1. Understanding the Grug perspective

First of all, you need to understand the role of "Grug". He is a symbol of pragmatic designers who are tired of industry nonsense, buzzwords and unnecessary complexity. The way he speaks (in simple, direct phrases) is itself part of his philosophy: communication should be clear and unobstructed. When reading the content of the site, try to bring in this character and think about the basic logic behind each point.

2. Core principle: embrace simplicity, reject complexity

All the views on the site are based on one foundation:Complexity is bad.. Practice this in your daily routine:

• Evaluate your tools: Check the design software (e.g. Figma, Sketch) and plugins you use. Do you really need those hundreds of features and variants? Or is a small number of core functions enough?Grug would choose to say more with fewer shapes rather than making a dozen tiny variants of the same button.
• Review of the design system: A good design system is an enabler, not a constraint. If your team spends more time adhering to the rules of the design system than actually designing it, then the system is probably "too complex", and if a design requires a long manual to explain it, then it is inherently poorly designed, according to Grug.

3. How to design for specificity: clarity trumps all

Grug's design methodology is so straightforward that you can apply it to every aspect of interface design:

• Component Design: When you design a button or input box, ask yourself, "Does it look like it should?" Grug would make a button look like something you can press, not a bird. Avoid overly abstract or fancy objects that require the user to think, "What is this?" of overly abstract or fancy design.
• Icons and text: Grug believes that icons are not works of art, but communication tools. If an icon needs a tooltip to be understood, it is not a good icon. For fonts, Grug chooses one appropriate font, not a mix of seven or eight on a page. Fonts should be chosen based on the mood and clarity they convey, not just because they "look good".
• Layout and density: Grug doesn't worship blank space. When designing a layout, think about how to organize information efficiently so that users can see what they need as fast as possible. High information density does not equal chaos, and a sensible grid system can help you keep your page neat and orderly despite the high density. [1. 1]

4. Improve your workflow

Grug's philosophy extends to collaboration and process as well:

• Collaboration with developers: Don't wait until the design draft 100% is complete before dropping it on the development team. Talk to them as early as possible to understand the feasibility of the technical implementation. Tell them the specific parameters (e.g. shadows are 8px blur and 3.6% opacity) rather than giving vague instructions like "make the animation feel natural".
• Facing feedback:: Grug argues that "stakeholders are bad". This is an exaggeration that essentially reminds designers to filter feedback. Many executives don't actually use the product, and their feedback may be out of touch with reality. Designers should be more trusting of feedback from real users (such as those observed through user testing) and be brave enough to say "no" to comments that may be detrimental to the user experience.

application scenario

1. Small teams for agile development
   In small teams or startups, where resources and time are at a premium, Grug's design philosophy helps teams avoid wasting time on unnecessarily complex processes and tools, and focus on rapidly iterating and delivering core functionality that reduces communication and maintenance costs.
2. Long-term projects seeking stability
   For enterprise applications or large platforms that require long-term maintenance and iteration, design stability and consistency are critical. Adopting the simple, proven solutions that Grug pushes for can prevent chasing ephemeral design trends from causing projects to become difficult to maintain in the future.
3. Individual developers or independent projects
   Efficiency is a lifeline when one person takes on all roles from design to development, and the Grug philosophy, which encourages the use of the most direct and simplest way to solve problems, allows individual developers to focus their energies on realizing the core values of their product rather than getting bogged down in the details of design.

QA

1. What does the character "Grug" really mean? Does he really stand for mental retardation?
   No, it's not. "Grug" is a literary metaphor and satirical image, he is not really stupid. Instead, he represents a kind of back-to-basics wisdom, symbolizing the pragmatic developers and designers who see through the complexity of the industry and choose to go back to the basics. The character is used to criticize the current technology industry's blind worship of complexity and mindless pursuit of the "newest and coolest" technology.
2. Is this site against all modern design tools and methodologies?
   It is not the modern tools or methods themselves that are objectionable, but the unnecessary "complexity" they bring, and Grug's philosophy does not mean abandoning Figma and going back to working with drawing software. At its core, Grug's philosophy reminds us that no matter how powerful a tool is, the ultimate goal should be to solve problems simply and efficiently. It encourages people to think critically about everything, whether it's a new design system, process, or tool, and to ask, "Does this really make things easier?"
3. Why does the site write in such strange, incoherent language?
   This unique language style is part of the "Grug" persona, and is also a reflection of its core idea. It mimics the simple, direct way of thinking of primitive people to reinforce the idea that communication should be clear and redundant. This style of writing is in itself a rebel against over-packaged business copy that is full of industry jargon, and allows readers to intuitively feel the power of "simplicity" as they read.