Design is, by definition, a service relationship. All design activities are animated through dynamic relationships between those being served… and those in service, including the designers. Design ideally is about service on behalf of the other—not merely about changing someone’s behaviour for their own good or convincing them to buy products and services. —The Design…
The Faithful Designer and The Artist at Heart
…the path of a faithful designer never leads her to anywhere, until she finds her artist at heart. https://youtu.be/h_D3VFfhvs4 After decades I’m still fascinated by Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal music video every time I watch it. It was an idea so well executed. The coin-throwing opening, the masterfully choreographed group dance, the transcendental light-out segment,…
Debunking The Myth of Design (Thinking) Process
“The correct regulative principle for anything depends on the nature of that thing.” —John Rawls Design Process is Not a Process The biggest misconception about design process is perhaps that we interpret it too literally. Design process is not a “process” per se. The act of designing doesn’t have a universal “process”. It’s highly coupled…
Marching Beyond Mike Monteiro’s Code of Ethics
Note: The following is a raw dump of thoughts in response to Mike’s talk at CanUX 2018. Please suspend judgement and tolerate messiness in logic. If you attended Mike Monteiro’s CanUX 2018 talk, How to Build an Atomic Bomb, or are familiar with Mike’s thoughts and perspectives, then you’re good to read on. The Road to…
The Challenge of Accountability in Orgs
I’m reading this interesting book, CEO Society: The Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life, that I came by through a friend’s repost. The post has a very interesting point of view, and I love this bit: “…we just wanted to pretend that someone was in control, even if all the facts and evidence were telling us that…
Why Agile Projects Fail and Other Misconceptions
More Than Cliche Thanks to this post, I recalled several thoughts I once told some people quite a while ago about the nature of the agile practice. At the core of that post is this: “Agile cannot help you if managers continue to run the project and use teams as tools to build it up…
Designerly Thought of the Day #20181003
Good questions don’t often lead to good, definitive answers. They often lead to better questions that derive better definition of our problems. Innovation derives more from asking than from answering.
Do Not Go Gentle into Good Design
Do not go gentle into good design, Solution should burn and live another day; Rage, rage against the problem we define. Though the means to their end ain’t no benign, Because their words had forked no action they Do not go gentle into good design. Lame designers wave by, crying how bright Their designs might…
Are Immeasurable Things Measurable? A Brief Thought
The most important things in life are impossible to measure. The other important things are very hard to measure, or impossible to attribute success to. We keep replacing judgement with data, when we should use data to augment judgment — Tom Goodwin (@tomfgoodwin) September 17, 2018 Don’t totally agree but also can’t agree more with…
Culture Thought of the Day
Encouraging people to take risks, although critical, is not enough for people to make informed decisions and take elaborated actions. Helping them explore where, when, and how to draw the line is perhaps far more important. The former is inspiring, the latter is leading.
Designerly Quote of the Day #20180912
…design is not a midpoint between the applied arts and sciences. Design is a third culture with its own founding postulates and axioms, with its own approach to learning and inquiry. Design is inclusive of things found in science such as reason and in the arts such as creativity. But just as science is inclusive…
Designerly Thought of the Day #20180906
Design is purposeful. Interaction is intentional. Intention is full of influences, which designers are responsible for. A decent interaction design always goes with elaborate planning of the chain of intentions. And when done well, the experience delights the users with senses of achievement and meaning.
The Chain of Intentions in Interaction Design
Design is purposeful. Interaction is intentional. There’s a chain of intentions in Design. They are connected by interactions and justified by purpose. Structuring the flow of those intentions is a critical part of design. Intention Vs. Purpose For clarity, let’s first differentiate intention from purpose. We can loosely define intention in design as the goal…
Priorities in a Flummoxing World
“You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won’t have it, is that clear?! You think you have merely stopped a business deal-that is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow,…
Designerly Thought of the Day #20180829
Solution is the incarnation of a believable vision. Vision is the incarnation of relatable meaning. Meaning is the incarnation of creative exploration.
Designerly Quote of the Day #20180828
When you get far enough along the spectrum that you really know the difference between bad and good, and how much there is to know, and that you will always be surprised, and are convinced you’re nothing more than mediocre— that’s when you’re at your best. That’s when you get the best results. You’ve put…
