Flavors of Design
In my initial weeks of learning design, I would go around asking ‘What is design?’ to people in the studio. The answers I got, left me with more questions. Some answers were brief, some metaphorical but more importantly, I never got the same answer from two people. I was looking for a mainstream definition of design to follow and shape my ideas around it, this was one of my first mistakes in design. The one which taught me something very important -
Your perspective on design is one of your biggest assets. It is formed by your unique experiences over time. It is the greatest skill you bring to the team. Your perspective refines itself every time you design alongside someone with a different outlook. There are a few things more disappointing than working in a team where everyone thinks in the same way.
Which is the best ice-cream flavor?
Everyone has their personal favorites when choosing which flavor of ice-cream to get. Some even come up with a rationale, explaining why there is nothing better than [insert flavor here]. And here’s the best part about all of this — All of them are right.
Design is like an ice-cream shop. Students like me walk in everyday hoping to learn it. But when you walk out, you notice everyone has something different than what you got. You start questioning yourself initially — Did I make the right decisions? I probably suck. What I design is mediocre. However, after going through this cycle a few more times, you stop sucking and be awesome instead by embracing this fear.
Looking around the program, I can understand why is it vital that each one of my instructors, mentors and peers have their own flavor of design. With clarity about why they think that way and respecting others who may have ideas which contradict their own.
Conformity
By suggesting to celebrate the diversity in perspective, I do not want say that the way every member performs user research, interpretation, testing and brainstorm should be unique. On the contrary, the myriad observations made and the manifold ideas generated despite doing the same actions is the beauty of this diversity in perspective. Or like Victor Papanek says -
We have made our severest mistake in confusing conformity in action with conformity of thought
A team where every member is able to express their perspective, their flavor of design is a place where I personally would like to design in.
The Other Side
On some rare occasions, I come across individuals whose thoughts are at polar opposites to that of mine. Such encounters are where I have learnt the most, realizing that the other side is not dumb. Asking questions about their flavor and the reasons behind it, you see things which you never had thought about. The better I get at doing this, the better I can get at communicating with people.
Hope you enjoyed reading this article. I would love to hear about your flavor of design. Please write about it!
If you liked reading this article, do let me know by recommending it.
If you disagree or have an alternate view about something in the article, please respond, I’m here with my notebook eagerly waiting to hear your opinion.
