My relationship with Design
“What is Design”
A question that most of us have been asked (or will be asked), in some form or the other, at some point in time.
“Design is an approach that solves a problem.”
An answer that most of us have given (or would give), in some form or the other, at some point in time.
Since every designer ever has been asked this question, I was also expected to answer it at multiple occasions- during my interviews, conferences, even while talking to my relatives (well, some of them still think I design clothes, but that’s a different conundrum I have given up on), but answering it would partially get me annoyed because explaining the design to anyone was a very mundane task is what I felt.
‘I tell the developers what to develop’- was my hack. If people still didn’t understand, I’d give one last try, this time with an analogy- ‘What architect is to a civil engineer, a designer is to a developer.’
The more I was asked the question, the more I realized that the reason why I get agitated was not that I found the question to be silly, but because I never had a perfect answer. The answers I gave weren’t justifying what I do at all and the other answers — that were borrowed from the internet, weren’t mine. And as someone who doesn’t let go of things very easily, I began the quest to find out my own definition of design- Something that justifies my relationship with it, something that I am able to identify with.
How does design empower me? How much do I trust it? Is it a fling or a long-term commitment?
To be honest, it’s still WIP, and like any other relationship, some days, I work harder to sustain it. But I guess it’s worth the hard work 😊
Full disclosure- I have committed infinite number of mistakes to discover what design means to me and figure out my relationship with it. For the sake of story-telling, I have put them down within a few chapters.
Chapter 1: Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy
The understanding that I had about design back in 2016 was full of ignorance. I thought I had answers to everything related to design. Starting our own design venture was the only logical next step. We went to extremes and claimed to provide a full-stack design solution. After all, we had attended all the classes, we went out for internships, and now we were ready (at least we thought we were) to apply the concepts by ourselves. I won’t go into the details of our BMC, but somehow we were able to get a project, and the clients were from the Bay Area.
Cool, right?
Well, it would have been if we were able to sustain it.
What went wrong?
Frankly, it was a disaster- Now that I am a little more educated than I was back then, I can confidently say that everything we did was just sub-optimal, and I am not talking about just the design. Our timelines estimations were sort of incorrect; the output that we generated only had piddly details; we were not really sure of the deliverables or their format, and most importantly, there was no thought of setting correct expectations with the client. As a result, none of us were completely satisfied with the output we produced
What went wrong?
- Getting ahead of myself without thinking about the consequences
- Not being able to handle a team of highly talented individuals
- Not having an eye for details at all times
- Not being professional enough
None of these are ever included as talents that a designer must possess. We always work in a mode that’s very “fancy and destructive,” which a few of us camouflage as creativity, but it doesn’t always help. As a UX designer, I realized that if a part of my time is not going in accepting and enjoying the reality of the situation, pushing people to work in the right direction by defining absolute objectives, bringing clarity on the table, and questioning everything that I see with a smile on my face- then there is something wrong.
Execution is not just about making wireframes and converting them into visuals; it’s also about communication and a hell lot of communication.
Design is a little demanding in nature and requires undivided attention.
Chapter 2: A full-time employee, a part time friend
In the year 2017, I moved to Hyderabad and started working as a UX designer with Phenom People Pvt.Ltd. During the 3rd week of my orientation, I ran through the office to attend a meeting and somehow fell down with the laptop in my hands. It was the office’s laptop, and because of the fall, it literally bounced and flew over two tables like a frisbee before hitting the ground. I wasn’t sure what should I be embarrassed about more? Falling down or crack opening the office laptop (fortunately, nothing happened to the laptop, God knows how).
I started working on a project that was all about NLP. Initially, it was a struggle because I was designing conversations, and my rationale kept telling me that conversations cannot be designed, especially with a person whom you are meeting for the first time. It was a struggle until I realized that hedging this enormous experience can happen only when I learn how the tech works.
As a result, the ML team had started hating me (or maybe not, no-one will ever know) because I would go on and on and keep asking them silly questions. Started studying about IBM Watson and Rasa APIs more than studying interaction design. God bless my team for answering all my questions without losing their temper. I was in love with my work.
However, as days went by, I started getting distracted and kept wondering if I should be a researcher- and well, the thought kept getting stronger after I got an opportunity to become a speaker the Google Dev Fest, 2017. And as a human being with limited patience, I decided to go ahead and pursue that.
What happened after that seemed pretty exciting. But this excitement did not last long. I missed the opportunity of working with one of the best leaders, which was actually something I should have chosen to do at that point in my career.
Where did I go wrong?
- Struggled during the initial weeks because I considered tech to just be a tool of execution
- No patience whatsoever and hence made wrong decisions
We all think that we know the best for ourselves- that’s not always true. Real-time projects are not like class assignments that will let you have a tangible solution in a few hours. It takes a lot more patience, which again is what a designer must practice. And just for the record, simple solutions are more difficult to arrive at because somewhere we take pride in proposing complexity- after all, if it was that simple, anyone could have it found it, right?
Also, as a designer, I learned that I need to constantly learn about tech and make sure design evolves with it. Design compels you to become a generalist (fancier noun for the phrase- “jack of all master of none?), and that’s something we should embrace. Can you really design an engine if you don’t know the science behind combustion?
Remember, all that glitters is not gold. Making objective decisions that help you, in the long run, is not easier to make when short-term goals look inviting. It’s similar to comparing FD vs. mutual funds. One is subject to market risk 😅
Chapter 3: Entrepreneur minus 1
In the year 2018, I started working with Infinative. Infinative was registered as Pvt. Ltd in the same year, which basically meant I had either nothing to lose or everything to gain. The latter is the reason I wake up every day.
I have worked on about 6 projects in these 2 years, and my experience has not been anything less than thrilling. I could go on and on talking about my experience at Infinative, but I’d limit it to sharing how it has helped me add something more to my definition of design.
Having learned it the hard way, I made sure I work professionally, pay attention to details, understand the entire spectrum of how the product is being built, maintain a good relationship with developers and as much as possible and eliminate personal bias. I would start my day at 7:00 am in the morning, write down the entire script of the presentation before presenting it to our partners ( we don’t address them as clients because it creates a barrier that none of us enjoy), track projects left right and center, never delay feedbacks, be available 24*7- and follow a single mantra- stop pushing pixels, start pushing boundaries.
Despite doing everything to the best of my knowledge, the initial months were not so easy: I was :
1. Easily overwhelmed with the amount of work
2. Not able to make quick decisions
3. Not able to project design as an aid to decision-makers
It did not take me long to accept that co-discovery is a very integral part of the process, especially when you are working with startups. The challenge is how to rationally navigate through everything that’s uncertain and pick up the right battles to fight. This not only helped me in planning roadmaps properly but also gave me the freedom to explore and find the solution with the right intention.
My partners are my biggest asset today, and my day becomes a little bit unusual if I am not able to see their eyes sparkle with joy once I anticipate it. The best that I know for sure as a designer I can do is to invite them to the process every now and then and give them a taste of how the moving pieces are being put together. Chaos is everywhere; managing it as a designer is what adds value to the work we do.
Always be honest with your clients and team. There is a special respect for people who say they don’t know the answer but are always willing to find it!
My relationship with design has evolved and has finally reached a level where I have started predicting its behavior ( which is also a key to a successful relationship? 😉)
We are taught that User Experience is always about the user- obviously, it has to be because it has the name user in it, but what we fail to see is that it’s about your team and clients as well. If the harmony doesn’t exist, the outcome, no matter how hard you try, won’t provide users the experience you have been striving for.
In the end, I’d like to say that I am yet to experience a lot more with design and add more chapters to my trysts with it. I might change my perspective in the future, but today, I feel that I am ready for a commitment (you see what I did there? 🙈). I am glad that I chose it as a career and spent some time figuring out my role a designer.
