I have two pieces of news for you: one good and one bad. The good news is, everyone can be a designer. The bad news? Everyone can be a designer. This duality might shed light on the current state of products and experiences in the market. Those countless apps in the App Store that don't work properly, the microwave you've struggled with for two years and still can’t figure out how to cook with, or the clothes that seem to be made for a body that isn’t quite human—just to name a few.
In fields like psychology, professionals often spend over a decade studying and practising to become proficient. Yet today, someone can complete a two-week bootcamp, or do an university course that isn’t in the design field, never studied the design principles and practices with its methodologies and be hired as a UX/UI designer. It’s concerning to think that such brief training could qualify someone to create meaningful, marketable products and deliver delightful user experiences in a business environment.
Since 2008, I’ve been working as a designer across various industries. I started in industrial/physical design and transitioned to digital design, including web and desktop applications. When people say, 'Wow, you’ve changed careers, that’s so courageous!' I get where they're coming from, but it's not quite the whole story. What I’ve changed is the industry, not the core design practice. Whether it’s physical or digital products, the principles of design remain consistent. Design as a framework and methodology to solve problems is also constant. If you see it differently, it might be due to a misunderstanding of what design truly entails.
We’re in the Information Age, a period marked by a shift from traditional industries to an economy driven by information technology. This era brings both an overload of information and a rise in misinformation and disinformation.
Unlike fields with established standards and regulations, like medicine or engineering, design lacks such oversight. Imagine a psychologist inventing a new theory after a year of practice or a doctor renaming body parts on a whim. Such scenarios are rare in other disciplines but occur frequently in design. For instance, in digital design—where digital products like web applications and software are developed—there is often a lack of clarity and rigour, which can lead to misguided practices and inflated terminology.
Design practice and the Digital Industry: What’s the Issue?
When I worked with physical products—explored further in my essay, A Personal Odyssey in Design—the process was more straightforward. There was the designer, who understood everything about the product, the market, competitors, and target users, responsible for creating the solution until it was ready for delivery. Then, there were technical professionals to produce spec sheets, machinists to cut the pieces, and assemblers to put everything together. While this is a simplified overview, the process was well-structured and efficient. If a problem arose, I knew exactly whom to talk to, which made a big difference.
In contrast, digital products present a different challenge. The process is less linear. A project manager might request a new feature for software or a new page for a website. They then discuss solutions with engineers or developers, covering not just coding but also usability and functionality. After that, they ask designers to contribute their part. This is where issues often arise.
Designers are frequently brought into the process midway. Instead of benefiting from the ‘agile’ methodology, which should promote flexibility and rapid iteration, the reality often falls short. What is supposed to be a sprint (two weeks) can stretch into two months, with the result sometimes being just a new button. When a deliverable finally emerges, it’s often reworked in subsequent sprints because the initial design lacked depth and consideration.
The challenge lies in effectively integrating design into the digital development process. When design is treated as an afterthought rather than an integral part of the process, it often leads to constant revisions and inefficiencies, ultimately undermining the quality of the final product. In such cases, design may no longer serve its primary purpose of problem-solving; instead, it becomes more aligned with graphic or visual design—a nice-to-have rather than a foundational aspect. While these practices are part of the design discipline, they are not the primary goal for a digital product designer, whose role is to create a solid foundation for both products and the business. Unfortunately, many companies hiring designers may not fully understand this distinction, and many designers today may lack this knowledge as well.
As Bruno Munari wisely said, ‘Designing is easy when you know how to do it. Everything becomes easy when you know the way to proceed to reach the solution of some problem.’
The Designer's Role: Solving Problems
The core of a designer's role is problem-solving, which is why I find it concerning when companies evaluate designers solely based on their portfolios. For a Graphic Designer, reviewing a portfolio with visual examples is appropriate since their work primarily revolves around visual aesthetics. However, when hiring a Digital Designer (or Product Designer), the focus should shift to whether the designer can effectively solve problems.
While impressive mockups are valuable, they do not replace a designer’s ability to think systematically and communicate their design process and decisions to stakeholders. Behind every polished mockup should be substantial content and reasoning.
Embracing the concept of ‘problem’ is essential for designers. Although the term might be avoided in sales or marketing conversations with clients, it's fundamental to the design process. Design is inherently about addressing and solving problems. Unfortunately, designers are often brought into the process only after other phases of development are complete, which perpetuates this issue.
The Importance of Design Guidelines
I once noticed in an American TV series about home renovations that the presenter frequently used the word design to describe the colour of furniture, wallpaper, and the overall aesthetic of rooms. It seemed that design was being used in place of decoration to sound more sophisticated. Similarly, I saw a poster at a beautician's office advertising ‘eyebrow design.’ While creating well-groomed eyebrows involves careful consideration of a person’s features, calling it design seemed like a stretch. I won’t even mention ‘nail design.’
Here’s a tip: If replacing the word design with project doesn’t make your statement sound odd, you might be using design correctly.
Establishing clear design guidelines is crucial. Many people, especially in the digital sector, often undervalue design because they misunderstand its full scope and benefits. Design goes beyond aesthetics; it’s integral to the product development process and fundamentally shapes how a company conducts business. Take Apple, for example—design is central to their strategy and success. When design is undervalued, teams tend to work inefficiently, and companies risk losing customers due to a lack of well-considered design in their products.
In my experience, when teams or companies struggle with their products, it often stems from a lack of a structured design process rather than market issues or sales problems. Design is deeply interconnected with business and user experience. Investing in a strong design process prevents costly mistakes and inefficiencies. Neglecting design can be costly too—sometimes more than you might expect.
As Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, wisely said, ‘If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.’
Design is about people
People always play a central role in design, as it has the power to drive progress in society. However, it’s important to remember that design serves people/customers with a specific organisational/business purpose.
Dieter Rams, the designer renowned for influencing Apple’s minimalist aesthetic, once said in 1976: ‘You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.’ In a 1980 speech to the Braun supervisory board, Rams further emphasised: ‘I think that good designers must always be avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times.’ His vision is truly admirable!
An engineer once asked me, ‘How can we be sure that the features we add will be liked by users?’ The answer lies in the design method. By following a structured approach—understanding your user, the market, and the technology—you reduce the likelihood of creating products that fail to meet user needs. Thoroughly understanding your user and applying a methodical approach minimises the risk of producing unusable designs—whether it’s a door that’s difficult to open, a dress that constrains, or a feature that’s too complex. Reducing these risks leads to fewer problems and better business outcomes. I’m eager to hear how your next quarterly review turns out!
Design Must Be:
- Delightful: Design should engage and please users, creating a positive experience that brings joy and satisfaction. It should also care about aesthetics, enhancing both the visual appeal and emotional connection.
- Sustainable: Design must consider the long-term impacts on the environment and society, ensuring that products and processes are resource-efficient and have minimal negative effects.
- Useful/functional: The primary goal of design is to solve problems effectively and meet the needs of users. This means ensuring that the product or solution is practical, functional, and addresses the user's requirements efficiently.
How I Define Design:
In a business context, design is a structured process that creates a systematic plan of thought and action to solve problems and achieve a goal, serving an organisation’s purposes and positively impacting people’s lives.
The phases that constitute this system/method are:
- Research: Analyze competitors, current applications/products, and users/customers.
- Definition: Develop a problem statement, identify requirements, and acknowledge limitations.
- Ideation: Generate ideas through methods like collage, wireframes, and blueprints to envision the solution, and visual mockups.
- Prototype: Create a simple prototype that works and can be used to test.
- Test: Evaluate the prototype to ensure it meets the desired goals.
TThese steps aren't exhaustive, and additional phases may be included depending on the project. Ideally, each phase should be followed by a review to ensure accuracy and alignment with objectives, allowing for iterations. However, the workflow can be adapted based on specific requirements and time constraints.
Final Thoughts
Design excites me, and I could write extensively about it. I hope this essay offers a fresh perspective on how you view the world around you, your work, your colleagues, and yourself.
Design is universal and integral to life—whether you're a CEO, salesperson, designer, engineer, rich or poor, if your skin colour is ginger, yellow, or green, regardless of who you represent in this world or your background. Design is part of your existence. Look at the marvels of nature: everything is delightful, sustainable, and useful/functional, qualities that define true design. And if you still have any doubts, consider yourself, dear reader—a unique, intricate design masterpiece! (Assuming, of course, that you're not a piece of software run by a spammer.)