My Year in Design-2016

As 2016 is now part of our collective pasts, I’d like to dive back and go through an analysis of what I set out to do and how those goals were achieved or not. The year was filled with a lot of turmoil, particularly from a personal perspective. Life is always a collective experience of people and events associated with the ones that orbit your life — you, as an individual, touch and are touched by many that come into your life. Last year in particular, with some personal issues stemming from my immediate family, it gave me a deeper perspective on how I needed to be available and how to be focused in achieving different types of goals for life in general and work in particular. Much like my article focused on 2015, this one will have main highlights and explanation of how that experience went through, and measurable outcomes.

1. Innovation Labs and Enterprise Life. I ended 2015 and started 2016 being a part of an innovation Lab created by a very large enterprise. The goal of this innovation lab was (and is), to go through a series of ideation workshops, (grounded in business/market/user research) and understand if the ideas that are selected and worked through are relevant for the general efforts of this large corporation. These days one only has to go back to Dieter Rams’ principles of Design, to understand that Innovation or the capacity to be Innovative, is one of the core adjectives that are thrown around by any technology company that truly wants to be successful in the market. The true spirit of innovation can take many shapes, but essentially it asks a person or entity, to be able to think beyond limitations, and in some way be revolutionary (and in the case of product design, really introduce a new paradigm and bring user and consumer adoption and retention). Trying to be bring this spirit to an established enterprise, with a lot of process in place, can be a challenge. To further scrutinize my experience, I had the opportunity to actually implement a lean UX experience, and work in tandem with a small team (product owners, developers), and we managed to collaborate with a multitude of partners, both internal, external (internal peers, consultants, offshore teams) and finally produce demonstrable pilot applications — case in point: https://www.behance.net/gallery/32580045/Anthem-PayMyBills-App. The lesson to take from this experience, and from an innovation lab is tied essentially with what a Design methodology is all about: research the industry, understand the goals of the product or solution that is trying to be devised, look at different factors (budgetary, technological, branding) that weigh in to the development of that product (and how it aligns strategically with the rest of the company’s goals), collaborate tremendously, be flexible and always be articulate and transparent about what you’re doing (and by this I mean, produce prototypes, concept boards, sketching exercises, every possible mechanism that allows you to explain the direction in which the solution is going). There are always time, budget, capability constraints, but at the end, it’s important to fine tune a process and really make things happen within the limitations that you encounter. Goals Achieved: My goals were tied with the continuous development of a process for driving solutions to a good port, collaborating with different teams and team members. I leveraged different practices, testing, and in the end produced projects that I think are relevant for what was set out to do. The goals were achieved.
2. Introduction and development of a Design Practice. The second part of 2016 saw me tackle a very different type of challenge. I joined a team with a product that had a certain level of maturity with a good level of adoption rate. I went through a process of understanding the industry, the market, the product (essentially going through a non formal QA process, to better understand the platform), conversing with different team members, different teams, and assessing what was the concept behind the product, what need it actually satiated and what was so unique and distinct about that solution. When mapping a strategy from a design perspective, and putting these ideas together, it is essential to collaborate with the teams, and essentially introduce a design process anchored in research, testing, and really branching out how solutions are achieved, particularly by not only looking inwards, but outwards to the market, to our consumers, both existing and potential new ones. Bringing a design process to a well established entity is not without its challenges — but as I have mentioned in another article, the spirit of transparency is imperative. Being transparent about goals, steps, and articulating outcomes, alleviates concerns and qualms that may potentially occur (demonstrable results and case studies also help in the process of evangelizing the usefulness of a sound and robust design practice), and paves the way for a process that is and should be anchored in the democratization and participation of all team members. Goals Achieved: As the process has evolved and continued to be implemented, it has produced really good results. They’ve been measured through design workshops, their participation, the feedback that has been attained, the response that teams have given and how the product itself has evolved.
3. Design Challenges. The past year saw me really seizing the concept of design challenges and elevating both the scope and ambition of these. I decided to increase the production of illustrations and pattern design, across a plethora of networks. The frequency increase also, going from a weekly challenge, to a daily one that has been going on since August of 2016, and is still effectively going. I’ve also ventured more into writing, beyond what I had already done academically and focused on writing articles about the Design practice and my particular experience with different teams and projects. Goals Achieved: The goals have been achieved — the production of creative artifacts has increased, as has the writing. The challenges have been a way to keep energized, motivated and leverage new tools to continuously improve work and deliverables.
4. Continuous Growth, Inspiration and Study. As I mentioned in last year’s article, this is a goal that I’ve set out for every year. Continuously read, appreciate and maintain curiosity about what surrounds me, not just in the design world, but in the world in general. Quoting what I wrote last year “Appreciate, dissect, analyze, read, discuss, and always be humble to understand that there’s always a new idea, a new application, a new tool, that can shift perceptions and ideas very quickly. Being able to be flexible, to learn and have the thirst to persevere is adamant as a designer, and I would say, as a professional in general.”

As 2017 starts and the challenges ahead are looming, I always remember the words from famed Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa: “Life is what we make of it. Travel is the traveler. What we see isn’t what we see but what we are.”

I’m fortunate to work in a field that is challenging, ever evolving, and where designers get to communicate, collaborate, find interesting solutions and paths for questions that constantly appear. To be a part of this ebullient universe is a gift, and this new year will be another one filled with creativity and productivity.