The mindset we look for in a digital product designer
Ultimately it’s not about Photoshop versus Sketch. It’s how you think that really gets us going.
By Johnny Rogers (Digital Design Director)
I never set out to be a manager, I’m a maker at heart. But that empathetic gene within me loves understanding what gets people excited and helping them to do their best work. It’s that ideal that turns the job of being a manager into more of a calling. A calling to change the world by making cool shit. For me that’s a buzz.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to build a team of digital product designers at Mentally Friendly. That is to say end-to-end problem solvers who can go beyond production to work at a holistic level. They’re rare a breed so I call them Pegasus's. These are the traits that define them…
Thinking through making
Don’t work in the abstract when your goal is innovative solutions. Thinking through making reveals what theory and a million meetings cannot.
“If a picture is worth 1000 words, a prototype is worth 1000 meetings.” — saying at Ideo
Embrace failure
Every time we fail we learn. Prototype → test → learn → iterate continuously.
“Don’t think of it as failure, think of it as designing experiments through which you’re going to learn”— Tim Brown
Be empathetic
People are our North Star. Start with their needs to build the right product. More broadly, empathise with fellow team mates and business stakeholders to solve problems from every angle.
“Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design”― Dieter Rams
Communicate clearly
Take everyone on the journey behind a solution to increase understanding around the problem and its answer(s).
“[Designers] apply the same theories of designing products — imagining how the person on the other side will think and feel as they encounter the design work — to telling the story of the design.” — Julie Zhuo
Think strategically
Identify problems and understand which to prioritise. Think holistically, beyond deliverables, to add the extra value that can truly be transformative.
“Design the right thing, before designing the thing right.” — Made by Many
Seek knowledge over assumption
We’re focused on where we can get proof — both qualitative and quantitative. It’s not enough to think we need to know.
“It is not enough to ‘think’ something. We need to ‘know’ it. If you find yourself unsure, instigate a plan to move from thinking to knowing.” — Brian Dargan, MF Strategy Director
Embrace the unknown
Our process is designed to increase certainty as we go and as ‘outsiders’ we are set-up to innovate when facing big problems.
“Ignorance … sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It’s only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.” — Orson Welles
Create confidently
There is rigour in the thinking behind our work, we are clear on our goals and in the uncertain times, that are inherent in complex product design, can implement a plan to certainty. I’ve talked before how the pressure inherent in agile design sprints is naturally an uncomfortable place for our clients who in many cases are new to this way of working. Instilling confidence in the process is where we can really demonstrate our pegasus powers.
“That combination of thought and action defines creative confidence: the ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out.” ― David Kelley
Pegasus anxiety
For a younger pegasus it can be pretty daunting to have someone tell you you need to be good at absolutely everything from the start to the end of a project. Fear not, we have many ways to help with that and if you’re a thoroughbred interested in running free then come and say hi.
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