Design is dynamic

Curating experiences in an ever-changing world

In The Shape of Design, Frank Chimero says that design is a bridge that seeks to link ideas. Commercial works of design link art and commerce, communicating the logic of a product or experience by connecting it with an emotion. This makes tremendous sense if you practice design. Designers are not necessarily artists; designers are curators who seek and express connections.

For example, when designing, I select a typeface that has the right emotional tone. I pick colors. Identify opportunities for illustration and photography. Define frameworks and layouts. In other words, I curate elements and create systems for expressing their connections. Then, I combine them into a cohesive whole, a piece of work that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Yet, in today’s world, connection is fundamentally different. Today, connection is actively, not passively, experienced. In other words, the connection between ideas, which was previously static, is now dynamic.

Before, a consumer would encounter, consume, and react to media. Today, they are users. Users seek, engage, and incorporate media (or works of design) into their lives. Forced encounters with media are no longer effective, and very soon, they will be viewed as entirely negative experiences. Successful experiences recognize that the user controls and curates their media landscape. The shift from consumers to users is seismic.

1. Users aren’t passive participants with limited options.
   They are active players with infinite opportunities.
2. Users aren’t waiting for the right product to find them.
   They are curating a gallery of products that expresses their nature.
3. Users don’t want to be controlled.
   They want to be individual creatives.

This changes the basic nature of design, if design is dedicated to the idea of connection.

In the past, a designer would look at a design and wonder if a connection was made. Today, designers have to find a way for users to experience (and, ultimately own) the connection, and the process must be fluid and ongoing. Every designer is an interactive designer for the former reason. And, beyond identifying connections, designers should create the path for the user to own the work.

To achieve this goal, designers have to reinvent their understanding of systems. Beyond engaging the user, a design system should achieve the following:

1. Create space for the user to insert themselves into the system.
2. Employ technologies that encourage give-and-take syndication, inside and outside of the system. One hub, many spokes.
3. Make the system extendable, so it can evolve into a user-owned system.

And, if you are a designer, the entire process will require collaboration. More-and-more, the opportunity for connection is greater than the experience of a single designer. Companies, like Facebook, who are built upon the idea of connection, are building rich design teams that bring different types of experience together.

And, they aren’t alone. The future of design will require an entirely different way of thinking about connection, and the dynamism that it will forever imply.