We had the specs and description written in the invoice. When it was delivered, the client rejected it and said, “This is beautiful but it is not what we had in mind.” The console table which we eventually shipped was completely different but with the same specs. That, I recently realised, is one of the UX lessons before I knew user experience is a real field.
As I am nearing the finishing line of a user experience immersive, I reflect on five lessons that apply to carpentry and UX.
1. Measure twice, cut once
Before I was allowed to build furniture, I was tasked with menial things such as cleaning and sanding surfaces. My first step into building custom furniture was the Cut List. One second at the circular saw could mean a perfect cut or the costly process of ordering new lumber. Measuring is in questioning assumptions too. It is in ensuring that you are measuring in centimetres instead of inches; is the lumber 3mm thick instead of 5mm? It is questioning what seems to be a given. Every centimetre matters because instead of breaking out a new plank, you might be able to get all your material out of one.
Has something changed in the design process that might allow you to create something quicker or shorten a user flow?
That said, you can measure many times but you will have to cut. How often do we wireframe, question the assumptions ad nauseum, trying to perfect the first prototype but delayed the testing? Mistakes do happen but we will not know till we give it a test.
2. Sketch, sketch, sketch
The paper and pen is the foundation for both carpentry, UX and it probably should be for any decisions you make in your life. Despite having done marketing and communications before becoming a carpenter, it was only through carpentry that I begin to develop my drawing and graphic design skills through SketchUp and eventually Illustrator. You do not need a solid knowledge for both but it helps to put form to a discussion. The paper and pen is a language.
The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
Marty Feldman
Sketching guides a conversation. A word might mean differently to a person when we all have varied observations and experience. Even in our team of UX design students, a simple sketch shape our discussion foundation better than extra time could.
This brings me to the third point…
3. Under promise, over deliver
I cannot remember a time when “undersell, over-deliver” produced a negative yield. Time will take its own time. On a sunny day, it might take three hours for the sprayed lacquer to dry but longer on a rainy day. Similarly, it takes a specific amount of time to do interviews or create a prototype — these are tangible hours. Overestimating this time in the spirit of underselling manages everybody’s expectation. And if shit still happens, reasoning and illustrating your process ahead of the deadline might work in your favour. Most people, I find, are reasonable.
In a post by Benek Lisefski on giving and receiving great feedback,
Aim for frequent small updates and continuous feedback rather than large chunks of work with occasional feedback between. This has the added benefit of making your client feel more involved too.
This works in teams too.
4. Mastering a skill
I used to wonder how good can a carpenter get? But the land provides…
… all the issues you can think of. The difference between a master and a junior is the ability to see opportunity in difficulty and how fast they respond. If you watched Blown Away, a glassblowing competition among ten masters, when their product breaks, the more senior glassblower Janusz was quick to improvise and adapt while a couple of the younger designers might have been too quick to give up. A junior might start from scratch and begin making a new order of wood while the master could work from what was built. A junior designer might see a project as a lost cause but the experienced designer is equipped with the eye to see, do we get deeper or grow wider and at times, maybe scrape it all together and move forward with this knowledge.
5. Jigs and Design Systems
It takes a lot more time to build a jig and style sheets but the pay off is huge. It is in the uniformity that pulls everything together. Is bevelled edges a thing? Are the slightly rounded corners of the text box intentional, does it happen throughout? The finishing touch to every furniture is that light sweep of sandpaper to break the edges or at times a pronounced rounded corner. It might seem so minor but when you see a client sweeping their hands on the surfaces continuously and unconsciously, you know it is good.
Bonus!
Know your tools. Two carpenters would probably approach a block of wood differently. Similarly, two designers would prefer to use one tool over another. At the same time, knowing when to apply what is a skill that develops over time.
User experience design is not a skill that is out of reach. You are probably applying it in some way or another. What are the skills that you have “discovered” that you have already practised?
This post first appeared on https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-learnt-ux-via-carpentry-apprenticeship-nurul-huda-izyan/.
I am looking for a team to bring my skills home in Singapore; connect with me via LinkedIn or email me a nhizyan@gmail.com.
