My two cents on Design
Sometimes I still doubt myself as a designer. Yes, I am a designer. But am I a good designer? What kind of designer am I? It’s painful to be haunted by those questions because I have neither answer nor way to find an answer. I was stuck in finding my value and the meaning of design, my work, and my future. I still remembered what Erik has said in class. Just do something. Don’t think too much. Having studied and practiced design for two years at Indiana University, I figure this is the right moment to drop a period to the chapter.
On Design Process
In the first year of graduate school, I followed the double diamond and design thinking framework, desperately cramming everything into the four or five steps of design. The nature of design, however, is opposite to science. According to Nelson and Stolterman (2013, p. 16),
much of formal education or training is based on preparing students to better identify and solve problems creatively, quickly, fairly, rationally, and prudently…is reinforced and supported by well-developed procedures for problem solving.
I couldn’t agree more with my scientific background. I tended to find a way to do things first. It felt nice when I had a plan on my mind. I was trained to have risk aversion.
Throwing back to the first design project that we did in Interaction Design Practice, I asked way too much feedback. With little judgment and confidence, I didn’t trust my ability as a designer. The more I designed, the more I was concerned that this wasn’t the right decision. The truth is that it is not a hero story where masters would hold my hand as if I was a toddler learning how to walk. Or maybe, would I be better off with that education? Dieter Rams and students at Bauhaus studied as apprentices for years.
Over the past two years, I’ve intentionally ignored the standard design process. I sometimes sketched the wireframes based on my preference. I looked at competitors’ work at first and thought about how to differentiate the products. Creativity was unleashed if I simply put myself in a creation mode, isolating the work from standards, opinions, patterns, etc. Needless to say, it took quite a lot of time and I even lost in the design that I created. But the environment that I built was such an unjudgemental and safe place for me, like the unconditional love parents give to children. I don’t feel ashamed by how many archived wireframes that I dumped. I don’t feel anxious about not seeing where the design leads to. I don’t feel guilty that I know nothing and I endeavor to learn and practice. Everything that I do as a designer always makes sense.
Collaboration plays an important role in the design process. Whenever I work with others, I find people have different kinds of work styles so it’s not possible to have a fixed design process. For example, if the team has creative designers then it’s better to brainstorm as much as we can. If the team is more conservative, it might be comfortable for everyone to have a planned design process. For me, with others in the team, I feel much assured and confident. I also like listening to other opinions and combining everyone’s ideas. Designers with specialization in different areas can learn from each other and bridge the gap by applying their unique skill sets.
On Design as Service
Since when do all the designers are user-centered? At least they claim to be user-centered, whose design is driven by user needs. Learning what people want and design to cater to their needs sounds like a perfect solution to design. Unfortunately, it’s not. Design education puts too much emphasis on user-centered design and brushes over the fact UX or product design is to solve problems, in specific, to bring more value to organizations and customers (excluding designing for social good funded by government or NGO).
User needs are not what only drive design decisions, especially for enterprise products. I also rely on previous design experience, design judgments, references and inspirations, competitors’ moves, product data, etc. Similarly, Nelson and Stolterman (2013, p.107) coined the term desiderata to conclude.
Desiderata are about what we intend the world to be and it is the integrative outcome of all three approaches in concert.
A good designer can balance all the constraints, approaches, and perspectives from clients, stakeholders, and themselves.
Design is to provide service to others. I used to treat design as a way to express myself and advocate for what I believe in. But I got frustrated in the projects where I work for a company or a client. It almost made me resentful. These people just didn’t know design, I thought. There were a lot of times when my favorite design idea was rejected and the clients even picked the worst one. I was upset and annoyed; the meaning of working as a designer baffled me. Should I insist on my preference? Why don’t clients like my idea? It took me a while to justify everything. At school, I was a student and what mattered was my design work. In the real world, however, I am no longer under the spotlight. I work in a team. I design to get paid by organizations. I provide service through design to clients, helping them achieve their goals and please customers. I realized how arrogant and protective I was.
On Design as Habit
It’s interesting to find out that design has become my way of living. What I mean here is that if I don’t design, for example, creating mockups or thinking about the design trends or the underlying mechanisms, I feel bored, unfulfilled, and a little bit insecure. I think it’s a good thing because studying design has let me grow the habit of collecting good design and reflecting on why they’re good.
Observing is the foundation. I like to go to museums and take a stroll, being inspired by design around me. I usually take a notebook with me and doodle great exhibits and scenes. Meanwhile, I annotate them with my interpretation. When I first tried that, I thought this is a good thing to do as a designer which was more like a task that I assigned myself to do. After a while, I gradually find my passion for analyzing and observing things around me. I like to have judgemental eyes.
Reference
Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2003). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world: Foundations and fundamentals of design competence. Educational Technology.
