Do you ever encounter a product - physical or virtual - which is so enjoyable to use that it makes you want to use it? I’ll bet that there are a few of them. Such products - personal electronics, shoes, iPods, massage toys, or whatever - are amazing examples of the hugely positive impact we can find create with great design.

For designers, great design doesn’t just motivate consumptive behavior, but our own ambitions and conceptions of what is possible. As an ATM interface designer, I have always strived to create a luscious, friendly and ultimately enjoyable experience by making attractive, intuitive, and even delightful screen designs.

Of course a pretty screen overlaying a marginal product will never equal a great product - lipstick on a pig, as the saying goes. And often we designers feel helpless, beaten down by product managers or technology teams who deny our awesome ideas their right to live.

But still, when that chance to work on a truly innovative, robust, or cutting edge product comes my way, I burn the midnight oil and champion every improvement to customer experience that I can. It is worth every gray hair, every new wrinkle around my eyes, and whatever tension and anxiety I might incite.

Why? Because this might be my chance to create a product that is so enjoyable to use that people might just want to use it, and - who knows - maybe next time when they have a transaction to do, they’ll pick the product I designed, instead of waiting in a teller line or whatever their old behavior might have been.

Gruber just told me that the new iPod touch is super slim, much thinner than the iPhone. And, just because the iPhone touchscreen interface is so much fun to use, I sat here and tried to create conjure up justification as to why I could really use a new iPod (I already have 3!). (Note: I came to my senses before I did anything crazy).

The point is that great design is enticing, and for designers, it can serve as a reminder to what our practice can strive to be in its highest form. So when you are stuck at your computer, burning the midnight oil, just try to remember that one day, when your design finally sees the light of day, your work will translate into a better day for thousands of end-users.

And that is why we design.