- Listen! Listen! and listen!
To be a good listener. When I say “be a good listener”, it does not just mean sitting next to our user and jotting down whatever they say. It means, to empathize with them – their story and experience. It also means to place ourselves in a vulnerable position where we can put down the designer title and understand their perspective in a sincere way.
2. Learn how to say “NO!” more
“Pivot” should not be an uncommon word in the designer’s lexicon. Either it’s brainstorming ideas or designing a feature, pivoting can occur in any time and space. Sometimes, we tend to dwell on a feature (or an idea) for a long period of time that is obviously not working before we finally give up and move on. We should be vigilant in our work time – when something (an idea or a feature) is proved to be invalid, especially during the beginning phase, say “NO!” to it and move on.
3. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is essential to all of the aspects of design, and it is the prerequisite for empathy. As human nature, empathy is an innate quality that embedded in our roots, but mindfulness is something that needs to be cultivated and practiced. We, designers, must be conscious of our creativity and be attentive to every detail of our work.
4. Accessibility and inclusivity will always be in my practice
We should acknowledge the complexity of the human body. Whether it’s gender, race, body size, or disability, the premise is we are all fated to be very different. A sophisticated design should not be oblivious to its accessibility and inclusivity.
I think all of the points I made are important to my core value of design, that is – to be introspective while manifesting my creativity. Our ideas and minds have no limitations, but it is critical for us to be reflective of what we put out to the world. A designer is a powerful role in this mercurial world, only by improving ourselves with compassion and introspection, we can build a better world that is full of love and possibility.
I like how you call out what’s meaningful to you and expand them. These are great values that need to be more reinforced in our design practices.
I love the different points you made, a very useful Manifesto all designers should follow!
These are all very good words of advice; especially #2 learn to say NO more which I’ve fell victim to multiple times when trying to find what’s wrong with a piece of equipment that’s not working correctly (the habit of being fixated on on solution than another).
Well done. Parts would be stronger if you stuck to “I” instead of “designers” or “we”. Make it yours. Be bold in your ownership of these statements.
Love “listen, listen, listen” so much! What a clear and strong verb to summarize our need when we design. Also, I appreciate you brought out the statement that when facing to the features don’t work, stop wasting time and move on.