Having a Point of View is Key to Any Designer’s Success
It’s not just about the work, It’s how you convey it
A point of view is how designers tell stories from experience. It is a way of presenting their ideas, whether it’s implied or clearly stated through visual tools to give context to a bigger message, but the problem that some designers and people aren’t aware of is without a point of view, your design is bound to fail.
I have seen many designers, including myself, present ideas, but only to fall short because we couldn’t tell a strong story behind what the project was and why was it important. We lacked that strong feeling of ownership. In general, designers aren’t literally told to develop a point of view, but instead are expected to explain each part of their design process and their reasoning behind the design choices they make. This is considered a designer’s point of view, but some designers focus so much on making and not enough on synthesizing that it doesn’t allow them to develop a point of view because they don’t understand the logistics of the problem and how to contextualize specific examples. In other words, their designs could not be grounded in reality.
Being able to speak about your design is just as important as what it looks like and I want to be able to share high level insights to why establishing your own point of view for your design is crucial to how successful your design can become.
It differentiates your work from everyone else’s
Every designer can create beautiful screens, but the difference between good design and purely good looking design is the logic and reasoning behind your decision making and how it ties back to solving the problem. Good looking design might be aesthetically pleasing but without a point of view to support your decision behind why you chose this solution over another one, you probably haven’t thought about the significance of tradeoffs or know how to connect your design to the real world. So many people can design but not everyone can design with clear reasoning that resonates beyond the design itself.
A point of view makes your design stand out because it comes from purely your experience..you just need to convey it in a way that allows people to understand and encourage action. so don’t be afraid to own your work (and give credit to where it’s due).
It can convey your understanding for the problem and empathy for your users
When you have a point of view, you are able to draw from different experiences in order to support it. It can make what you say over what someone else says much more believable because you have a stance on an issue that you can easily back up with evidence. In design, you begin to develop your own point of view once you have a better understanding of the problem and empathy for your users. I learned the importance of developing a rationale in order to better contextualize my problem and become an advocate for my users verses relying on what other designs have told me about the problem. You can read it here.
People can see how you think
As problem solvers, we need to explain our process as clearly as possible for people to understand and essentially get them on board with our idea to bring any sort of change. It’s like when you pitch a startup idea; we are taking investors through a story and showing the importance of why they should fund our idea. Because we were intentional with our decisions and thought about our direction even if we made a few mistakes here and there, we need to be transparent with those details because it dictates our perspective around the issue. This can allow people to relate better to you and have them follow because you are providing direction. People want direction and a point of view does that. It only gets stronger when you aren’t afraid to show people how you think
It fosters proactivity instead of reactivity
Designers should be expected to take initiative on their work and from my experience of working at a mid sized company to a large company, it is up to the designer to move their project forward and bring it to fruition. This doesn’t mean they don’t ask for help but they take that step to make working collaboratively happen. Designers with a strong point of view are the ones who lead and make things happen. This is because they aren’t afraid to speak up and go above and beyond to understand things that allow them to develop different perspectives on something which can result in change.
Having your own design voice not only opens the opportunity to approach and tackle challenge, it broadens horizon and understanding.
Design isn’t simply just form of expression, but a point of view. When you have a voice, it can elevate your design and allow you to think beyond what already exists.
Thank you for reading!
If you have any questions about design, message me on LinkedIn and I’ll write about it!
To help you get started on owning your design career, here are some amazing tools from Rookieup, a site I used to get mentorship from senior designers:
- Build a portfolio with help from an experienced designer
- Essential tools to strengthen and build your portfolio
- Take control of your time and career by becoming a freelancer
- Tips and tricks to get an amazing design job
Links to some other cool reads:
- Prepping for Design Interviews (My Microsoft Onsite Experience)
- UX is Grounded in Rationale, Not just Design
- The Unspoken Truths of your First UX Internship
- What makes Top Tech Companies Successful?
- Get any job with a stellar portfolio presentation
- The Types of Design Research every Designer should know NOW
- When did Design become so Easy?
