Day 01: Design Thinking — following the messy path of the creative mind

Susan K Rits
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

Design thinking is an approach to problem solving. We’re not here to make pretty pictures or pick the perfect palette. We’re here to find problems and solve them. To invent and create — and yes, to make pretty pictures and pick the perfect palette, but after we’ve solved the problems.

The design process is chaotic, until it’s not.

Design thinking is a squiggly line of chaos and confusion as you sort through options, solutions and better solutions and finally come up with the single best solution.

Designers use it as a way to make space for them to experiment and play. To give themselves permission to try something crazy without worrying whether anyone will like it. It’s an iterative approach to design.

”Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something — anything — down on paper. What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.” — Anne Lamott

Good product designers work iteratively. That means we try one thing, hate it and throw it away, try something else, hate that too. Then realize that the first thing we tried was the right thing.

We don’t expect to have all the correct answers on the first day.

How We Do It

We do get started immediately, with pen to paper. Or stylus to tablet; cursor to screen. Because we know that nothing is more terrible than that blank screen. Once we have something to work with, we can adapt, change, amend, tweak and edit to our heart’s delight. Getting started is the real task.

Design is in the doing, not the pondering. So don’t ponder too long. Get started NOW. And embrace your imperfections.

”Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein

Your Assignment

Use design thinking to invent something new. It can be anything you want, as long as you’ve written it down somehow.

  • It could be a new way to get to school
  • It could be a time travel machine
  • It could be an app that finds people to socialize with in your neighborhood
  • It could be a personal jetpack that fits in a backpack < — somebody please invent this

Be as detailed as you can. Make sketches, include the user interface, try to think of ways it can really work.

Share as a pdf, website or picture in the comments and/or on Dribbble and Twitter #100daysdesign.


Originally published at 100days.design on July 25, 2017.

100 Days of Product Design

TUTORIALS • EXAMPLES • PROJECTS • RESOURCES

Susan K Rits

Written by

Founder: 100 Days of Product Design, Imprintli Publishing, ChicoButter and Rits&Co.

100 Days of Product Design

TUTORIALS • EXAMPLES • PROJECTS • RESOURCES

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