The Changing Face of Design
It’s 2017 and the conversation around design has never been louder. From pushing existing forms of design forward to the emergence of entirely new forms of it, there is a lot of chatter around the word ‘design’. A lot of it of course has to do with the fundamental shifts brought about by technology and a growing understanding of what it really means to design.
Design as an activity is fundamental to human evolution. The act of designing is a human impulse to deal with the world around us and shape it to our convenience. Fundamentally design is about solving problems and each wave of technological change brings with it new problems that need solving and by extension new roles for designers to undertake.
The Four Orders of Design
Richard Buchanan is a professor of design, management, information systems and was the head of Carnegie Mellon School of Design. While at CMU, he put forth the idea of ‘The Four Orders of Design’.
1. The first order deals with signs and symbols, about how we communicate and visualize. Think of this as Graphic Design.
2. The second order deals with physical objects and artifacts. This encompasses everything an Industrial Designer does for instance.
3. The third order considers the design of services and activities. It looks at how people interact with the world around them, and by extension encompasses disciplines such as Interaction and User Experience Design.
4. The fourth order is the design of systems and environments within which the other three orders take place. Disciplines such as Public Policy and Organizational Design fit into this order.
As we move across the orders of design, the activities vary immensely in scope and complexity. What stays consistent however is the intended outcome, which involves solving a complex problem in a manner that might not be immediately obvious.
In a world saturated with mass communication and mass production, it’s the third and the fourth orders that emerge strongly, in an attempt to make sense of our complicated modern lives.
From how we interact with the products that make up our world to designing and implementing policies to make the world a little bit better. Disciplines such as interaction design & user experience design now have to co-exist with and supplement emerging disciplines such as service design, not to mention the existing ones such as graphic and product design.
From Rockstars to Collaborators
The function of design has expanded from working in silos to working collaboratively, across multiple disciplines. By extension the designer’s role has evolved in terms of how designers are perceived to operate and collaborate.
For too long, the idea of a ‘rockstar designer’ or a ‘genius’ has been perpetuated by both the design community and the media. From stalwarts like Massimo Vignelli working in branding to Charles and Ray Eames forging ahead in product design and architecture, the focus has traditionally been on the individual and their creativity.
With the emergence of a connected and digital reality however, design has had to go from merely functional, to delightful. It’s not enough for a product to just work anymore, it has to inspire the user to do more. As this effect grows, the idea of design as a team sport has emerged strongly.
Creating great user experience and delightful interactions, requires collaboration across designers, programmers, analysts, managers and the end users. Working in a silo is not just beginning to be frowned upon, it’s becoming increasingly harder to do so.
With the unprecedented growth of design thinking as a business tool, stakeholders who might have once wanted nothing to do with design, are beginning to realize the importance of collaborating with designers.
On the part of designers, it’s become critical to take valuable input from stakeholders such as product owners and end users before so much as designing an icon. This has brought about the emergence of design as a team sport.
From Being Outside the Room to a Seat at the Table
As a consequence of this collaborative undercurrent, design is rapidly evolving from being a functional unit within businesses, like marketing or sales, to a driving force at the leadership table. Design led approaches are being seen a way for companies to innovate and differentiate themselves. By adapting to user centered design, companies are also exploring newer ways to communicate and resonate with their audiences.
With the emergence of design led companies such as AirBnB & Pinterest, there has been a paradigm shift in how companies are built. Designers have gone from being seen as contributors to leaders.
While it’s easy to attribute a lot of this to the nature of tech companies, the interest in design at a business level is unprecedented even in traditional companies, where executives are looking for design led approaches to devise strategy.
Designers now find themselves being included in executive leadership, all the way up to the C-suite level. Titles such as ‘Chief Design Officer’ or ‘Design Executive Officer’ are rapidly becoming common in business and networking events, not to mention board rooms across the globe.
Times, They Are-A Changin
The ability to research, see the big picture while crafting the minor details, being able to rapidly prototype and test ideas, translating business objectives into actionable items, while telling an engaging story, are skills every good designer already possesses.
With the evolution of technology and the modern economic landscape, designers find themselves having to move up in traditional hierarchies. The ones that succeed will not necessarily be the ones with the most experience, or the best portfolios, it’ll be the ones that best adapt to these changes.
