Design IS the new black
Yesterday I viewed an excellent presentation by Will Tschumy. I had originally planned to embed the presentation here along with the notes I made. But I started thinking, did I really want this to be one of those kind of posts or should it be something different? A lot of thoughts bubbled up as a result of viewing this so I thought I’d share those instead.
The content of Will’s presentation resonated with me. I think one of the reasons is it touched on topics and methodologies I experienced at UX Intensive. But the main reason is because he starts off by addressing the common misconception that design is, “just about making it pretty.” Those that know me have probably watched me cringe when someone asks me to make it pretty. Why? Design shouldn’t just happen at the end of a project. Saying make it pretty implies, at least to me, that a lot of work has already been done. It also implies that design is just about the aesthetics and shouldn’t be involved in other decisions and processes. I’m fortunate to work in an organization where design is recognized appropriately but I’ve also worked where it wasn’t. Trying to change this mindset is challenging.
Will states that “design seems like it may be the new black” and business leaders are starting to pay more attention to design and design thinking. I agree and will take it a step further by saying design IS the new black. But just like most trends, I hope design doesn’t get replaced by whatever comes next. As a design practitioner, I have the responsibility to use this business interest in design appropriately and help ensure it doesn’t go the way of tight-rolled jeans.
I noticed a couple of years ago that Microsoft was starting to be more open about their design group. I was glad to see them do this because it sends the right message to businesses that rely on Microsoft products (and what business doesn’t). However when I went to a Microsoft conference, there weren’t very many designers there. They gave out wrist bands for us to “tag” ourselves as: business people, developers, and designers. The Microsoft employees seemed genuinely interested in design and design thinking but I did get quite a few of those what is a designer doing at a Microsoft conference looks from other attendees. I was at dinner one night, having some of the best sushi ever, and I encountered a couple of developers from New York. We started talking about the conference and our respective backgrounds. When they found out I was a designer the conversation abruptly ended. They mentioned that they wanted to do more design work but weren’t sure what that meant yet.
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