Material degradation due to unidirectional sliding wear can be found in wide range of engineering applications. Depending on the applied load and sliding velocity, several material removal mechanisms will be operative during sliding. Lim and Ashby compile these mechanisms in the form of wear mechanism map. They have also been able to estimate the wear rate in each mechanism quantitatively. However, no effort has hitherto been made to use these expressions and concepts to alter or modify the surfaces of various materials for improved wear performances. The objective of the present work is to address this issue. In this work, the expression for wear rate in various regimes will be examined critically. The important parameters that governs wear rate will be identified. An approach to improve wear rate in each regime will be suggested on the basis of identified parameters. Suggestions will be substantiated with large database and published work.