07: The underlying thread of design.
In Mahalo Design Digest #07, we’ll look at recent musings on the role of the designer in organisations and businesses. First, we have an awesome response to “Who is the designer?”, then a post on how to design for success, and finally, learn about unexpected mediums we need to start designing with.
Just in: You’re a designer.
Focusing on the core business is what differentiates real product design from interface design or even user experience design. Fundamental product design is really hard and requires a lot of legwork, but this is what designers at the highest level do — and it’s why their work is better than yours.
I love that we’ve come to a point in this industry where there are articles written every week on what design really is. Daniel Burka (a big inspirational figure-head to me) wrote that he is in full support of the Jared M. Spool article that asserts everyone is a designer, even when it’s not necessarily popular to say it.
I even jumped on the comment bandwagon, looking to dismiss the idea that designers were mere “stylists.” Ryan Lucas thoughtfully responded, after a lot of research, on how there’s a long “history of both pedagogy and practice around designers being cross-disciplinary.”
Furthermore, while catching up on the High Resolution podcasts this past week (how good are these interviews!?), Andréa Mallard defines design as “a way to de-risk go-to-market,” not pushing pixels or crafting a user experience. See the snippet below:
It’s such an amazing revelation when we understand that design is so much more than what we originally thought… or at least on its way to becoming what what it was always meant to be?
Designing for emotion, not style.
Robyn Hwang wrote a great, very timely article. I’m on a team that’s currently in the process of redesigning Trade Me, New Zealand’s largest e-commerce website. Balancing our new brand, design system, customer needs, and maintaining conversion rates metrics is not a straightforward process.
As I was reading, I was reminded of the ultimate example of a design that has really helped this infamous e-commerce site, LINGsCARS.
Not what you expected, right? I find that cleanliness, spacing, visual consistency are great ideals, but not always the best tools for conversion and won’t necessarily create long-lasting relationships with the user. When we all design our websites, brands, and experiences, we should be looking at designing first and foremost for emotional attachment, thus creating good-for-business, habit-forming products.
Evolve beyond the pixel.
How do we create the emotional attachments I mentioned above? Jason Amunwa says it well in this post :
In short, users need compelling narratives to guide them through the entire experience — not more infinitely-reconfigurable visual interfaces.
He argues that words and content “is the design” and they are “the only truly responsive UI element for all computing devices, past, present and future.” Andrea’s HR interview (posted above) also goes into the importance and effectiveness of a designed narrative.
The intersection of design and data.
More and more, businesses are understanding the need for a complete understanding of and empathy for the customer experience. rajesh kumar writes that businesses are going to need to push further with big data to continue to transform.
Insights powered by algorithms and interpretation by collaborative teams unearth innovation and inspire possibilities for the future. The immense power of data when combined with the human-centered design result in action-oriented processes.
Give the article a read and consider the power of design thinking when its paired with quantitative insights and patterns.
Shooooots — that’s awesome.
Every week I try out a new product or design tool and showcase it here. Have something you want me to try out? Let me know!
The new Google Earth has nailed it. It’s such an awesome experience and drives so much curiosity, especially with features like ‘I’m feeling lucky’ and the ‘People also explore’ feature. All of this is tied together with the marketing site using fantastic verbs like ‘explore’ and ‘experience’. You have me Google, now take me around the world.
Mahalo Design Digest is a way to give thanks to those in the wonderful, awe-inspiring world of design, UX, and digital-experiences! I (along with periodic guests) will curate links from around the web for you to be stoked on. If you want me to check out what you’ve been up to or an article that inspired you, send me a message! — Cody Iddings
