Design DYI
A simple guide to start learning what it takes to design stuff on your own.
So you have this new project (maybe a startup?) and you have to design your product or your website. You don’t know where to start, you’ve never been to design school and you think you suck at it.
The good news is you can learn. Design is not about making “pretty” things. Design is about solving problems and making things work together. As an entrepreneur, 90% of your time is already spent on solving problems so you’re probably already designing anyway. You’re willing and able!
The bad news is it takes time. It takes time to be good at it, to master your tools and to be at the top of your craft. But you can start now and see what happens.
What you need to make “good” design
To design efficiently, you need to really understand the problem you’re trying to solve. To really understand what you’re trying to solve, you have to listen to your clients’ problems. Read about lean startups and customer interviews. Master the art of listening, take notes and verbatim.
This is really different from listening to your clients’ design suggestions. Which is probably the shortest way to produce very bad design.
Why do it yourself?
Of course you can ask an agency to work on your design. It will cost you a lot, particularly on the early stages of your project when everything is still a little blurry and you’re trying to figure things out. Plus, you’ve never briefed a design agency before (have you?). Chances are you will waste some precious time iterating with them and they will charge you for that.
But the real reason why you have to start designing yourself is this: design means imagining and giving life to your idea. Why would you want to externalize this crucial task to a third-party? No one better than you knows what’s in your head and how you want to change the world.
Make the effort. Designing will force you to clarify the problem, acknowledge your constraints, sort and priorize your ideas and finally designing will force you to make choices. Only you can take upon your choices. You’re in charge, remember?
At worst, if you’re stuck, make it simple. Which is complicated, I grant you that☺.
Where to start?
Name it > Now that you know precisely what you’re trying to do, start by summarizing it in a clear sentence. “I want to make the signup process easier and faster for my clients”. Or “I want to increase engagement on my site on this action”. Or “I want to showcase my product so that this particular customer segment wants to buy it”. Refine it with all the constraints you have to comply to. Write it down.
Open your eyes > Look (closer) at everything around you. Everything. Notice how the doors knobs are flat when you need to push and protruding when you need to pull. The first step towards creativity is thorough observation. Once you’ve learned to look at details, you’ll make connections between concepts and you’ll also know when something is poorly designed. The difference between good and bad design often lies in details.
Ask (yourself) questions > Why aren’t all books the same size? (that would be much simpler for printers though) Why is this symbol internationally used? Why this color on this wall? Why on earth did someone invent flip-flops? What problem was he trying to solve? Designing consists in constantly asking why.
Read about it > Once again, be curious. Don’t just read about webdesign, read about architecture, object design, packaging design, poster design, etc. Start with your classics. Here are a few names to research on the internet to get you started with some design culture.
Paul Rand / Neville Brody / Paula Scher / Milton Glaser / Saul Bass / Jonathan Ive / Jeffrey Zeldman / Katie Hatz / Noma Bar / David McCandless / Fanette Mellier
Surf the web about it > Start with a few good websites you’ll visit everyday. For instance:
http://design-milk.com
http://www.dezeen.com/design
http://www.fastcodesign.com
http://www.behance.net
http://www.dexigner.com
http://www.wallpaper.com
Learn & practice > If you can spend 20 hours on design, you’ll start getting results. There are tons of good websites that will teach you the technical aspects of design. Such as:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/50-totally-free-lessons-in-graphic-design-theory--psd-2916
or the excellent https://hackdesign.org/lessons (50 design lessons for free)
or another absolute reference http://alistapart.com
Share & connect the dots > Last but not least, save some time to reflect on what you’ve learned and connect the dots. Share your questions and discoveries with friends or other designers. Designing is about connecting things that no one has ever connected before. It’s easier done when you share the process.
Start by sharing it here, I’ll be glad to connect!
