On designing: What I learnt from Porsche cars and Nolan movies
Design as if you will never iterate again, iterate as if you will never design again.
I spend most of my time on browsing web, I constantly come across these posts like “We gotta iterate fast” , “Ship first, iterate later”. It’s sometimes upsetting to see that some startups and companies have a immensely periodic design iterative process. It is a dangerous habit that sometimes users start feeling naive when the product loses it’s shape every fortnight.
Spend a lot of time, even more than the effort you put in development to the first design of your product.
From Christopher Nolan movies
Here is his secret, he spends a most of time on the pre-production from scripting, story boarding, scene setup, lights, mise-en-scène. One such inspiring story was the shoot of the exploding cafe scene.
Nolan is not a big fan of computer graphics. Although most of the shots in this scene is CG there were real debris and dust used to make the characters feel the reality and detailing. This could not be achieved without pre-designing this scene shot by shot.The priceless time spent on pre-production totally reflects in his movies. End of the day this was a spectacular scene. Have a look
On a side note, check out the article on Einstein’s problem-solving formula by FastCompany to get an understanding of what this means. Einstein spent 55 minutes defining the problem and alternatives and 5 minutes solving it.
Lesson learnt: There is no such thing as iteration in design, it’s just an excuse.
Start with a design that is already brilliant, wise and sexy.
From Porsche cars
The one thing I love about Porsche as a design company is the fact of just 3 iterations in 50 years. I mean just look at it, that 50 year old model of Porsche is much better than most of the newly designed cars these days. There is incremental improvement, performance changes, innovation but very minimal iteration in design. Year after year Porsche launches a nearly identical body because the have already built the best. This is the quality of design that startups should build.
Lesson learnt: Skip features for your next release but do not compromise on quality.
Quality design is contagious, it tells the story about your company, your product, your culture and who you are. So don’t keep iterating till you feel that the last piece of pixel in your screen is shit. Sit back, spend a lot of time on your pre-production. Run your company as if you are directing a movie.
