Four more answers, roughly
Let’s answer four more of Scott Berkun’s questions today. We already did three. That was fun, right? Four more.
If I know PMs and VPs often know little about design, how can I stop being surprised and disappointed? And instead be better prepared to handle these common situations?
I’m uncertain what designers are being surprised & disappointed about here, but I can guess a few:
- Work not shipping
- Fiat plays
- Terrible questions
- Critiques gone off the rails
- Being fired
Or, if we take the question literally, I suppose we can assume a baseline of general design incompetence among those who have chosen to buy design.
You’re the expert. You’re there to teach people what design is as you simultaneously practice it. Questions that might seem “dumb” to you are, in fact, tremendous opportunities to get people more excited about the practice of profitable design. That’s why you’re there! You’re there for your presentation & persuasion skills precisely as much as your expertise. Maybe even more than your expertise.
Imagine a different specialization for a moment. Do you think developers expect everyone on the team to know how to code, and what all of the trade-offs are in building new work? Then why do designers seem to do the same thing when it comes to matters of taste & value?
How can more of my ideas survive projects, schedules, budgets and politics, and improve the world?
Through the aforementioned presentation skills, as well as the practice of value-based design. By researching, measuring, and experimenting with our decisions, we’re more likely to move the needle and retain our jobs.
How can I do user research about my coworkers since they are the first users (hopefully!) of my ideas?
This is a good question with an incorrect assumption. The first people to come into contact with your ideas are those who buy design from you. Next up is the people who might beta test your software or work with prototypes, which I think is what’s being described here.
Both groups are worthy of deep, continuous research.
At Draft, we spend a lot of time focusing on those who buy design from us, and then we turn around and work on customers. But in larger teams or more complex organizations, we can easily see the value in researching coworkers & understanding stakeholder needs as well. After all, your coworkers are usually the ones who show up to critique – and they have opinions.
As for “how,” I don’t know, the same way you’ve been trained to do research for literally everyone else? Everybody has their own motivations in an organization. Buyers of design want their projects to succeed, largely so they can get status, promotions, money, and keep their teams happy. Other stakeholders want their ideas incorporated & to feel heard, largely so they can get status, promotions, money, and keep their teams happy.
Once you understand the motivators by which design is bought, accepted, shipped, and maintained, you’ll gain a lot of power around making it all happen.
What gravity problems are common for creative people in the professional world? How can I embrace them instead of holding on to magical thinking that they will go away?
This is two questions! We answered the first one a couple of weeks ago in terms of what to work on, but internally there remain deeper questions around how you’re perceived, how your work is received, and how value-based designers will be collaborating with teams & maintaining their work going forward.
As for the second question, I don’t think any professional is doing themselves any favors by willfully ignoring the reality of any situation. Put more succinctly, problems don’t go away unless you do something about them.