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Insightful list of tips on how to approach designing a puzzle. It's all very user-centric. The one that really stands out to me is: "A puzzle is not there to stump the player, it is there to be solved in a way that makes the player feel smart or skilled." That's what makes a puzzle fun and rewarding.

• Start by designing the most simple, basic puzzles to show players how the mechanics work. You can build from those basic examples to create more complex and difficult puzzles.
• Complexity and difficulty are not the same thing. A simple puzzle that works well is much more interesting than a very complex puzzle.
• Think about the aim of a puzzle. A lot of puzzle designers get this wrong. A puzzle is not there to stump the player, it is there to be solved in a way that makes the player feel smart or skilled.
• Misdirect the player, don't lie to them.
• Puzzles come from blocking the player. Think of how you can block off the obvious solution to make the player find an alternative
• Try deconstructing mechanics from popular games. How does Portal use the portals in different ways? How are portals and companion cubes combined to create puzzles?
• Play The Witness and think about how each section of the game teaches you how each sub-mechanic works by gradually forcing you to understand its different properties. That game is practically a meta exercise in showing how puzzles are created.
• Keep puzzles efficient. Don't force the player to spend ages doing the easy parts, and don't require the player to have pixel perfect movement or mad platforming skills (unless that's your game). Try to avoid puzzles that can get to an unsolvable state.