RE: The end of Design as we know it
Was Dan Saffer right and is it AirBnb’s fault?
Even at first glance this post seems dramatic but lets put this into perspective. I recently came across these posts by Saffer, from three years ago, claiming design could end as we know it. That systems would soon be in place that take over. Then why am I writing about it as it is quite clear design is very much alive? Well it’s a combination of how rapidly ‘UX’ is evolving and quite a nice collaboration of stories that lead to learning about design systems and the future actually.
“Much unforeseen can happen between then and now. That being said, in 30 years, give or take 10 years, the discipline of design as it’s practiced today will be over.”
The words of Dan Saffer back in 2014. Fast forward three years and what’s changed? What progressions have been made? Have they been positive or negative. This leads me to, as mentioned, quite a nice collaborations of stories from both Dan Saffer & AirBnb.
This isn’t anything new for design — it’s practiced very differently now than it was 30 years ago, or 30 years before that. What we are seeing as progression in the design industry must be natural. We want to be able to deliver better experiences and just like the way in which new ideas innovate physical and digital products our workflow is also being innovated to make collaboration easier and deliver faster.
Visual language and brand communication have played a big part in companies for years. They are established throughout a company in hope that individuals can adhere to the rules and create within them. The problem being that when details come in tiny details such as colour gradients of font sizes then they are always going to be open for individual interpretation.
I undertook a project from some marketing interns at Bosch the other week, the first question I was asked was if I knew the Bosch Corporate Design layout plan… I mean… I printed it off. I guess I was more worried about tailoring the package to the user than worry where my logos are placed and this was when I realised I needed to find a better balance.
This is where design systems come in. Translating visual and brand language into something deeper. Transforming them into design systems that create a collective ‘master’ for everyone alike to pick from whilst creating a consistent user experience throughout the product in question. No corporate design guides using other letters to mark the spaces in between things. *cough*
AirBnb have the strongest example of design systems being implicated that I have come across so far. The way in which they want to build their visual design language to unite designers and developers is held in such high regard and is obviously really exciting. Just read their post linked above, it’s amazing.
It’s also more than just creating symbols in Sketch (I thought this was THE solution at my first thought but obviously not). Symbols can become messy over complex in larger design tasks. By creating a design system, blocks or chunks of information and design patterns that designers are able to choose from — they are effectively streamlining their design approach.
“Visual language is like any other language. Misunderstandings arise if the language is not shared and understood by everyone using it. As a product or team grows, the challenges within these modalities compound.”
Doesn’t it all sound a bit like it’s killing creativity though? This is the first reference to Dan Saffer and not the last so stick with me until the point. Design systems are not being put in place to starve off the creativity of others. In fact, by placing these limitations we are enabling one another to stop worrying about font sizes and start focusing on the delivery of the experience. (In, and not limited to, a digital context).
My question into the future is that when does it become negative? When are design systems starving creativity apposed to fuelling it? The users experience is increasingly becoming the most important aspect of most industries, and as we strive to deliver and better more consistent experiences, just like design systems have come about, we will rapidly change the way in which we design. But is it dead?
aaaaand back to AirBnb. Their Sketching Interfaces project is the prompt of the post. It’s crazy cool, just take a look. It’s also perhaps what Dan Saffer was talking about. It’s a design generator. From simply scanning wire frames it will generate fully rendered & coded apps for the designer. It’s the next step in utilising design systems and will only keep getting more prominent.
I don’t think that these methods are killing design as we know it. Designers and developers are working together to build better experiences, to build a more humane future and design systems are merely a side product of our desire to increase the quality of our output.
Designers are more than systems, designers solve problems in unconventional and fun ways that a system wouldn't be able to generate. Designers are human, just like our users and I don’t think that’s something anyone should forget.
I hope you enjoyed this post!
It’s more to do with the links than my content but I hope I’ve provided an interesting base for discussion. Let me know, hit me up if it has.
