Dear Designers Who are Afraid to Ask Questions,
Don’t be afraid to ask good questions that demonstrate you are a true thinker.
First, many people actually like answering questions. As Denys Sergushkin pointed out in an article, answering questions — or mentorship in general—helps senior designers to network, to reflect, and to energize. My job as a design system maintainer/design ops relies mostly on people asking questions. After all, if designers don’t ask, I would not be able to support them.
So, don’t be afraid, we are always happy to answer.
Hehehe… Do you believe that is what I am thinking?
Of course not, or you would not be afraid to ask around in the first place, and nobody would be reading this article.
The reality is, just like in real life, there are good questions and bad questions. Good questions mutually benefit the asker and the answerer, whereas bad questions waste the time of both.
Questions I love to answer
Clarification
I like answering questions to clarify something, as these typically suggest that I did not fully consider my audiences’ backgrounds, and jumped directly into details. So in this case, I am the one to blame.
Those new to the team shall specifically make use of this opportunity to ask questions. On one hand, asking questions shows that you are very eager to participate in my project; on the other hand, it’s better than asking the clarifying question 2 months later, at which point it would be actually awkward.
Thinker
My favorites are questions that clearly demonstrate that you are actually thinking. For UI/UX designers, this can mean “what if there’s no internet during the installation stage” for an IoT project.
I do not hire designers so that I can act as a general to command others like soldiers. I don’t need a person who can only execute but cannot think properly.
Reflections
If your question makes me ponder, it is a good question. It can be about a process, “I wonder if we can modify round-robin in a way to be less stressful”; or a comment for a UI design, “I am curious if we can handle it without forcing users to log in”. If you make me pause and step out of my tunnel vision, it is a win-win.
Some more experienced professionals might make suggestions by asking questions to soften their tone, ex., “maybe we can present the story first before showing the final solution?”
Opinion Exchange
“Hey, how do you feel about that new auto layout change Figma just released?” I love these questions. It makes me feel connected to the rest of the designer world, learning new things and networking with people. Questions intended to survey opinions are great condiments to the plain life during the covid pandemic.
Questions I do NOT like to answer
Facts You Can Google for
Come on.
Pick One Solution Please
I do not like it when designers throw me a lot of design proposals because “they all look cool”, without giving me a specific reason for why they “look cool”.
These are the opposite of those “thinker” questions. I do not hire you to simply depict my idea, especially when I can often do it faster than you. You need to show me how you reasoned through your design and how you evaluate different trade-offs.
Easy Background Research
If I know that I am about to design a UI for NASA, I will spend some time watching documentaries about JPL before my first meet and greet with the client.
If you couldn’t even be bothered to read my meeting invite, merely show up and hope to rely completely on me for the source of truth… I think you can do better than that.
Summary
To think is hard, but that is what we designers are made for. Through the questions you ask I can tell if you are thinking or not. If you are, then I am more than happy to answer your questions; if you are not, it makes me wonder why you are hired in the first place.
