"We know the world is filled with bad designs." Indeed. And this points at a 7th problem. Most people trying to do good design work are unexposed to a wide range of exemplary good design. Simply put, there are not enough good examples of good design that we collectively use to guide new design efforts.
Expanding on that, when we start designing, there is relatively little in the way of broadly agreed upon examples of commercial software and hardware design that delivers measurably effective, desirable, and profitable outcomes. With many other designed experiences—music, movies, books, for example—we have evolved shared definitions of good across various types of each and sets of instances we can point to depending on the context we are focused on. And while some of us point to the designs of companies like Apple as good, today's reference points usually don't come with tangible demonstrations showing why they are good and breakdowns of the elements that make them good.
This is a really great addition to the list. The baseline for human learning is mirroring the communities and cultures we are immersed in. Apple as example is dead in my book. We need operational examples of "what is good" and "why it's good" on all the different fronts (biz, usability, aesthetic, etc)
When reading 6. Most design is redesign, I proclaimed to myself that designers are transitionists which, for me, reaffirms your point of needing curiosity in order to address the business problem in a diplomatic way. Mid afternoon thoughts for you and Zug.
"designers are transitionists" - I love this and that you used the word diplomacy. That word is just not part of the core design vocabulary - it's just kind of assumed people will like your ideas because they are better. Which to anyone with some life experience knows is almost never true all on it's own.
Love that. New design or redesign, a designer's work is about transforming an existing situation into a preferred situation. Situation includes both interactive and static experiences.
"We know the world is filled with bad designs." Indeed. And this points at a 7th problem. Most people trying to do good design work are unexposed to a wide range of exemplary good design. Simply put, there are not enough good examples of good design that we collectively use to guide new design efforts.
Expanding on that, when we start designing, there is relatively little in the way of broadly agreed upon examples of commercial software and hardware design that delivers measurably effective, desirable, and profitable outcomes. With many other designed experiences—music, movies, books, for example—we have evolved shared definitions of good across various types of each and sets of instances we can point to depending on the context we are focused on. And while some of us point to the designs of companies like Apple as good, today's reference points usually don't come with tangible demonstrations showing why they are good and breakdowns of the elements that make them good.
This is a really great addition to the list. The baseline for human learning is mirroring the communities and cultures we are immersed in. Apple as example is dead in my book. We need operational examples of "what is good" and "why it's good" on all the different fronts (biz, usability, aesthetic, etc)
Desperately
When reading 6. Most design is redesign, I proclaimed to myself that designers are transitionists which, for me, reaffirms your point of needing curiosity in order to address the business problem in a diplomatic way. Mid afternoon thoughts for you and Zug.
Transition and diplomacy - You're speaking my love language Martha!
"designers are transitionists" - I love this and that you used the word diplomacy. That word is just not part of the core design vocabulary - it's just kind of assumed people will like your ideas because they are better. Which to anyone with some life experience knows is almost never true all on it's own.
Love that. New design or redesign, a designer's work is about transforming an existing situation into a preferred situation. Situation includes both interactive and static experiences.