What is "good taste"?
In this episode of Dalton + Michael, What is "good taste"? explores good taste means high standards, humility, and user value creation Dalton frames taste as a strong internal barometer for what’s good, including an ethical dimension of not producing work you believe is harmful or bad.
Good taste means high standards, humility, and user value creation
Dalton frames taste as a strong internal barometer for what’s good, including an ethical dimension of not producing work you believe is harmful or bad.
Michael distinguishes between an artistic notion of taste and a business/economic notion centered on positive-sum value generation for users.
They argue that loudly claiming to have good taste is often evidence of the opposite, while true taste shows up in standards and restraint.
Good taste is recognized in people who care deeply about what they release, would proudly attach their name to it, and ensure users get real value.
They note that work can be meaningful as “art” even without user value, but businesses ultimately must create value for users to succeed.
Key Takeaways
Good taste is more than aesthetics—it’s an honest quality compass.
They define taste as the ability to evaluate work truthfully and avoid making things you “know in your heart are bad,” including work that harms or fails to help others.
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In business, taste is inseparable from user value.
Michael emphasizes that beyond artistic preferences, a practical definition of taste asks whether what you’re doing is positive-sum and delivers value to the user.
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Self-proclaimed “great taste” is a red flag.
They suggest that people who insist on their own taste often reveal insecurity or shallowness, whereas real taste tends to be demonstrated rather than advertised.
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High standards are the clearest signal of good taste.
They point to creators who deeply care about what they release, maintain strong quality thresholds, and don’t ship work they wouldn’t be proud to sign.
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Standing by your work isn’t enough if users get no value.
They draw a boundary between art (which can be self-justified) and business, where the ultimate test is whether the user actually benefits.
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Taste can be practiced by anyone through honest evaluation.
Michael argues against taste as an innate elite trait, proposing that everyone can improve taste by looking at outcomes candidly and asking what’s truly good.
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Notable Quotes
“Taste just means having a strong barometer, having a strong compass of what is good and what is not good.”
— Dalton
“Anyone that insists what good taste they have… that’s how you spot the people that don’t have good taste.”
— Dalton
“To recognize great taste in other people… it’s people that have high standards.”
— Dalton
“If you stand by the work but you don’t care whether the user gets value, that’s art.”
— Michael
“At the end of the day, value has to be created to the user.”
— Michael
Questions Answered in This Episode
Dalton, how do you distinguish “bad taste” from simply experimenting and failing while learning?
Dalton frames taste as a strong internal barometer for what’s good, including an ethical dimension of not producing work you believe is harmful or bad.
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Michael, what are concrete signals that something is truly “positive-sum” for users rather than just feeling good to build?
Michael distinguishes between an artistic notion of taste and a business/economic notion centered on positive-sum value generation for users.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Where do you draw the line between aesthetic taste (e.g., UI choices) and deeper product taste (value, ethics, usefulness)?
They argue that loudly claiming to have good taste is often evidence of the opposite, while true taste shows up in standards and restraint.
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Can a business legitimately prioritize artistic expression over user value—at what point does it stop being a business in your view?
Good taste is recognized in people who care deeply about what they release, would proudly attach their name to it, and ensure users get real value.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What practices help teams maintain high standards without becoming perfectionist and never shipping?
They note that work can be meaningful as “art” even without user value, but businesses ultimately must create value for users to succeed.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
You know, I'd love to hear your definition of taste, but in my definition here, taste just means having a strong barometer, having a strong compass of what is good and what is not good and not producing things that you know in your heart are bad right? Or, like, not helping people or hurting people.
You make such a good point because I feel like there's, like, a artistic definition of taste which, like, I'm not much of an artist. Like, I don't really, can't really engage with and then there's just, like, a pure, like, value generation, right? Like, almost in the, kind of the core of the economy, like, is w- is what you're doing positive sum? It's weird because, like, I think in a classic definition of taste, people are like, "Well, some people have it and some people don't." I think everyone has the ability to look at something honestly-
Yeah
... and ask whether it's so positive so-
Well, and again, the irony, I'm, you know, you've heard me say this before, but anyone that insists what good ta- taste they have-
Yeah. [laughs]
[laughs] It's like definitionally-
Yes
... that's how you spot the people that don't have good taste.
Yeah.
Is they, they talk about how great they are-
Yes
... all the time.
Well, and I think that's so funny 'cause, like, like, when people are like, "Oh, taste is, like, where the buttons are on the screen or, like, how cool my dark mode is," it's like j- to-
Yeah
... like, you know, like.
But to recognize great taste in other people-
Yes
... it's people that have high standards.
Yes.
And that they really care-
Yes
... about anything that they release, they're proud of.
Yes.
And they would stamp their name on it-
Yes
... and just be-
Yeah
... stand by their work.
And the user gets value out of the work.
Yeah.
Because there are a lot of people, if you stand by the work but you don't care whether the user gets value, that's art.
Yeah.
Which I think is great. It's a p- perfect category of things to do, but that's not building businesses.
Yeah.
Like, at the end of the day, value has to be created to the user.
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