My Year in Design — 2022
Every year is peppered with its challenges and rewards. No matter what, that is a statement that can easily be constantly reaffirmed as we collectively weather storms and sunny skies year after year (though each year features an unfair balance between the two). Each and everyone one of us experiences life in a very unique way, since we’re all very different, living in very different locales and faced with a set of constraints that are also very specific. But there’s also aspects that unite us all in our humanity and ability to cope with those challenges and revel in our celebrations. In 2022 we witnessed and experienced a rollercoaster like flurry of occurrences, some on a macro scale (such as the devastating War in Ukraine) and others on a smaller and more Design centric scale (Adobe purchased Figma for instance). All in all and from a personal and professional perspective, it was a year filled with challenges and many moments for reflection and learning. Unlike the previous yearly retrospectives that I’ve been doing for the past 7 years, I’ll highlight some key takeaways from this year. As always hope this makes for an opportunity for discussion and reflection.
Empowerment, Support, Honesty. I’ve been very fortunate throughout the years to have worked with various Design professionals. And have been even more fortunate to have been able to be a part of their professional journeys as they mature and realize the path they’re on and the one they want to carve for themselves. I’ve witnessed these journeys both as a peer and for the past years, also as a manager and mentor. 2022 was no exception. Something I’ve always adopted when working in management and mentoring is a distillation from many of my learnings and training as an educator, but also from my academic background which included team management. I’ve also been able to observe, document and understand throughout my career how different managerial styles have the power to both empower individuals to become excellent team members, and the precise opposite, where there’s an alienation and lack of bridge building between a leader and the teams that support him (and the example of Twitter these days demonstrates the latter in my personal opinion). As a side note, when someone embarks on an Academic profession, and particularly when one chooses to become a teacher, you must always keep at the forefront of your strategy that you have to prioritize the academic growth of your students, and just as importantly the process of empowering them, giving them the skills to be resourceful as they tackle problems they’ll face in their lives and professional careers. The tactics one develops to achieve what was previously described also extends itself, at least in my own experience and perspective, when mentoring and managing Design teams.
My goal has always been to listen, guide and ultimately provide the skills and the sustenance (and substance) for individuals to be successful. In order to do so you have to develop relationships based on honesty, trust and dare I say it, empathy. It’s not a matter of “Radical Candor” (though I recommend reading Kim Scott’s book), it’s a matter of being authentic and genuine, combined with an ability to listen/observe/reflect/educate (LORE). When you think about these parameters, it makes it that much easier to understand and measure results, performance and collaborate with any team member on the path they’re shaping (or that they want to shape). Chances are when going through these journeys there will be all sorts of scenarios one has to face. However, one must always be sensitive to what others are saying, finding ways to be supportive which includes having affirmative conversations, clarifying discussions, and also when needed, course correction conversations. And if and when situations do occur, be transparent with people and realize that after all is said and done, sometimes different work styles and perspectives simply don’t align. It’s not a matter of demonizing anyone, just a statement that we’re all different, and while we all must and should respect each other, as professionals and as part of a larger team, sometimes not all habits, performances and skills align the way they should. And that’s also fine, and ultimately means people need to move on.
Patience. Many Design professionals have asked me if I’m comfortable in working in the same project for a considerable amount of time. And by extension, if I’m not “afraid to be bored”. In all the projects and challenges that I have tackled in my professional career, I never once experienced the concept of being “bored”. Problem solving, Product Inception, Team Collaboration and ultimately solutioning, are all aspects that I truly love doing. Now, one of the aspects that Designers, particularly the ones coming into the Product Design and UX/UI/Research arenas should be mindful of, is the fact that all these journeys are in reality long trail runs, that are comprised of multiple sprints. The process of solving a problem, even at its most lean perspective, it always involves a fair amount of collaboration, testing, synthesizing and finessing. Not with the goal or purpose of building something that is perfect (the whole topic of perfectionism is one I have tackled before in a previous article): the goal is always to deliver something that pierces through the core of a need which is expressed by users/consumers (openly or less openly through a variety of demonstrations, be them reviews, expressions of frustration, surveys).
The closer a solution is to what users understand it to be, and what they can effectively do with it, in a delightful manner, the more successful that same solution is, which in turn translates into brand awareness, longevity of relationships and a sense of glee in using something (please refer to Professor Don Norman’s 3 Levels of Design: Visceral, Behavioral and Reflective). All this to say, Designers should be patient, even when the need for rapid momentum is there. Because every group, every organization will perceive momentum and celerity very different. Patience and Flexibility in how one tackles problems and personalities is one of the main takeaways from this year (and prior ones as well).
Education and Thoroughness. A few years ago I had an interview with two people who had just started their professional career (recent college graduates). They had found a market opportunity, started a small business venture and wanted to hire a Design Lead to help them bring their concepts to life. They had already briefly worked with a Designer, and had a somewhat disjointed product experience assembled. I spoke with one of the co-founders who was also fairly inexperienced in interviewing, particularly for the Design field, and subsequently had a conversation with the other co-founder, who asked questions on how I’d solve some of the problems they had. After our conversation he offered and immediately proceeded to give me feedback on what he thought I had not done so well in our conversation and what I should do better. I listened to all his suggestions and thanked him for his time. What a situation like this exposes, is not the fact that people with no professional experience have little legitimacy to be critical of others who do (and that’s never the point). Independently of what field we work on, we are always going to be reviewed or criticized, be it by our peers or by individuals who fiercely believe they can do better. And maybe they can. In a situation such as the one I described, the problem that it exposed, was deeply tied with the fact that the interviewers made little effort to build context, inform themselves of what Designers can actually do, and specifically of my work, my path, and what exactly they wanted to get out of the conversation. They unilaterally built a scenario in their minds, and failed to realize that much like solutioning, there’s always someone else you’re going to interact with, someone (a user/consumer), you have to know enough, in order to be effective in what you’re trying to achieve. In the e-commerce arena for instance, the challenge is for organizations to deliver solutions which allows for a purchasing process to be as efficient and transparent as possible, allowing for users to clearly understand what their journey is and what they’re getting. For Design interviews, these should be about understanding who that professional is, what drove him/her into the field, how they solve problems, how they collaborate with others, and finally an opportunity to look through an example of what they do or have done. And if indeed a problem solving exercise is needed, clearly showcase the context and premise of the challenge to the individual, allowing the person time to process, take notes, ask questions and devise possible scenarios for solving it. All this to say: be thorough, be prepared, be polite and above all, be self aware. What that situation exposed was the fact that these individuals, for all their virtuosity, demonstrated to me that whatever their project was I had no interest in partaking of that journey. And not because I felt threatened or undermined: primarily because I didn’t believe in their message, what they stood for, and how they behaved towards someone whom they did not know in the context of an interview.
All these years later, I continue to firmly believe that everyone should always be honest, transparent, respectful of others and self aware. And in the Design field even more so. Because what we do, is a combination of the act of listening, with the act of collaborating and the act of creating. All this to say, this process of preparing, contextualizing, listening, observing, is something that I consistently keep doing, and something that I always encourage Designers to do. When you’re too busy pontificating or boasting, you fail to realize that there’s a whole other conversation occurring with and within the people receiving those threads of conversation. And you always want to promote conversation and discussion, and not demolish it.
Personally this past year allowed for so much to come to fruition, all of which demanded time, patience, thoroughness, and dedication. And at times, even if the results aren’t immediately visible, the foundations for what lies ahead are being established. The journey is indeed the reward in itself. I’m hoping 2023 will bring more articles on Medium, and I personally hope these articles can reach out to more professionals in the field, and spark the exchange of more ideas and allow me the opportunity to continue to evolve.
I’ll conclude with a quote from scientist Albert Einstein on the topic of Ideas (and their exchange).
“The mind that opens up to a new idea never returns to its original size.”
