How? Design!

Yesterday I read a very inspiring post by David Simon, writer and show-runner of “The Wire” (easily my favorite TV series ever) whose latest work to air was the miniseries “Show me a hero” on HBO.

The post, titled “What’s my line?” (linked to in the bottom of this post) is a smartly written ‘rant’ on the coexistence of actors and writers (and in Simon’s case in the show— producer, as well) and how they often deal with issues of character development.

But what does this has to do with design? Well, it doesn’t really, but it does have a lot to do with selling your design.

TV shows and apps/websites have the same basic goal: To give you value as a user/consumer. Both often have a team of people working behind the scenes, trying to create this thing that will give value to your life, and sometimes, those people disagree on the details.

In “Show me a hero”, actor Oscar Isaac plays the real life character of former Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. I won’t delve too deep into the story of the show for those who haven’t seen it yet, but the big story revolves around Wasicsko’s fight to build, under a court order, a number of low-inocme houses in the town and how this action tore the community and the lives of some of the people who took part in it.

In the scene Simon writes about, he wrote a line for Isaac, which the actor simply refused to deliver. Now, it often happens that actors approach the director and writer to clarify a character’s motives, actions and behavior, but usually actors do not flat out refuse to deliver a line, especially if the writer is also the producer of the show.

No matter what Simon and director Paul Haggis said, Isaac was adamant in his opinion that the line won’t be necessary. Simon explained that this line is crucial in explaining Wasicsko’s actions a few scenes down the road. “How do you think we could explain such actions to the viewers?” Simon asked.

“How?” answered Isaac. “Acting!”

Isaac’s answer resonated with me on several levels: Firstly, it opened a window on Isaac’s personality and passion for his craft, something I feel pretty much every day in my work as a designer for a small news startup. He also made it obvious that he was invested in this character just as much as Simon and was willing to stand his ground even though it was an unusual statement in the industry to do so, and third, he knew he could deliver the right emotion required in a way that was less on-the-nose and still deliver the weight of the scene across to the viewers.

As the only designer in the company I work closely with one of my bosses on defining and designing the user experience for every feature we implement and we also sometimes disagree.

It doesn’t happen often but when it does, (and even though I’ve been doing this job for more than a year) I still feel the pressure of having to give my best explanation for why I think this feature won’t work this way or why that icon is sending the wrong message.

I admit, it usually involves a considerably larger use of words than Mr. Isaac used, but the bottom line is that a decision has to be made-and sometimes to be made fast-and even though I am a hired employee the thing that always helps me stand my ground is that I wasn’t hired to do what I’m told but to find solutions to problems through design.

Actors need to let you know what their characters are going through and sometimes there won’t be any text for them to do it with(Warning: this scene from “The Wire” is major NSFW). Designers have the same challenges and they often float up even after behavior was defined and wireframes drawn. Sometimes it involves simply changing the color or replacing a font, but other times it might involve costly animations or adding a screen or two. These sort of changes might even push back a dead-line and aggravate your boss or co-workers but if you know it’s the right thing to do and you know how to do it, you have an ethical obligation to try and see it through.

I won’t divulge the ending of David Simon’s post and I urge you to go over to his blog and read it yourself. His writing is eloquent, filled with humor and I admire how his no-bullshit personality contains a humble core which is clearly displayed in his writing.

Thanks for reading.