The power of time in product design and dividing it to conquer
“When can you have it done?”
Designers probably dread this question more than any others. But this is how projects operate, on deadlines. Often it means long nights in front of a computer cramming in last-minute design changes.
It may also mean project managers on a tight deadline that misunderstand what design work entails. They may see it as one task, as in just drawing, but it’s not.
It shouldn’t have to be like this, either for designers or for the project managers who are the ones who dole out deadlines. A little understanding of how design works can make a big difference in a designer’s work and the expectations set on them.
From a project manager’s view, design tasks are very similar to development tasks. Both are creative tasks. Both take thought and trial and error to get to a satisfactory result.
It’s helpful for both designers and project managers to think of design work as a set of subtasks, as development tasks are often done. For example, as a project manager, let’s say you are looking at adding a notification service to your application, but you need a design for it first. Instead of asking a designer “I need a notification service, how long will that take?” you can start a conversation with your designers based on a…
