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 Subjectivity is the curse of design, and designers. Fortunately there’s a valuable, but often overlooked phase in the design process that can remedy this situation – testing. Testing provides designers a chance to see which design solutions will potentially work best. Testing also provides a counter balance to one of the biggest traps designers face – selecting designs based solely on their aesthetic merit as opposed to what’s most effective. Testing challenges some deeply held beliefs of designers, who’ve been taught that “good looking design” is by its nature better for clients and their businesses. However, in some cases, the best-looking design is not always the most effective.

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 From a client/designer relationship perspective, questioning provides opportunities for designers to position themselves as partners who are not solely focused on aesthetics, but see their work as an integral part of moving the organization’s strategy forward. By doing this, they build respect and trust in the relationship by showing interest in the goal of the client and by providing a rationale for their design decisions. Ultimately, these questions ensure that designers are providing design solutions that are aligned with the organization’s overall strategy.

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We’re all a little crazy, but apparently some of us are crazier than others. In Jon Ronson’s new book The Psychopath Test, Ronson suggests that our perceptions of psychopaths as denizens of dingy apartments on the outskirts of society is a bit skewed and that you can actually find many of them in places like the boardrooms of large companies. 

Likewise, the design profession is not immune to crazy and undoubtedly has its share of self-centered narcissist who may be a few percentage points off the correct PMS color, so as a public service, and just to make sure you’re not one of them, I’ve provided a quick test to see which side of the design crazy line you’re on. The test is based on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, developed by criminal psychologist Robert Hare. This test is featured in Mr. Ronson's book. Try to answer honestly, err, unless you’re a… well, anyway, here’s the test. Read more »

When we look back on human history, one of the defining factors for our success as a species is related to our ability to work together.  Our capacity to put aside our self-interests and collaborate toward a common good allows humans to make incredible strides that no single individual could achieve.

In a recent New York Times article, Kim Hill, a social anthropologist at Arizona State University remarked that what makes humans so special is not the size of our brains, pointing out that “That’s not the reason we can build rocket ships — no individual can. We have rockets because 10,000 individuals cooperate in producing the information.” Read more »

Design success is as often as much the result of the quality of the relationships formed with clients, as it is the quality of the design. Design is collaborative work and requires that both designer and client pull together. Clients hire designers to help them solve business problems; designers push clients to communicate their unique value in fresh and unexpected ways. The resulting tension can actually push development of ideas that are balanced and that consider multiple sides of a problem. Gaute Godage, founder of the world’s leading independent computer game developer, Funcom, notes that managing this tension can only be achieved through trust. Read more »

 In Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel The Fountainhead, the idealistic Howard Roark battles an array of philistines who try to marginalize his architectural vision. Roark refuses to meet the demands of clients and employers who try to bastardize his ideas, which unfortunately gets him banished to the lowest rank of the architectural spectrum. However, when the powers that be realize his genius, Roark is commissioned to design the Cortland housing project. He accepts the contract under the condition the project be completed to his exact specifications. When his vision is corrupted by others, he blows up the building on the argument that his ideas are his property and he could do as wished. He gives a memorable speech at his trial.  Read more »

You’re confident that your idea can move your organization forward, however instead of praise, you get pelted by nay-sayers. Colleagues and clients can have numerous motives for wanting to kill your ideas. By better understanding how they might try, you can better defend against their attacks.

Delays: Time can kill an idea. Detractors might ask you to provide additional research, or ask for approval for an unavailable higher up. Make your case and push for a quick decision.

Fear: Detractors will call on any boogyman, whether real or imagined to kill your idea. By thinking about challenges that might be brought up ahead of time, you can prepare a strong response.

Distractions: Detractors may try to group your idea in with other ideas in order to create confusion or to have it get lost. Let your idea stand on its own.

Success: If your current activities are successful, why change? Point out that not changing can be more dangerous that holding on the status quo. Organizations that don’t evolve usually end up behind.  Read more »

The design industry is getting incredibly competitive. From a strategy standpoint, designers need to do what any other business would do in such circumstances - find a unique customer value that competitors cannot easily provide.  Read more »

Many design customers, some 22.5 million small business owners, are primarily driven by cost and do not necessarily see a huge difference in the levels of design sophistication offered by established professionals and design newbies. This environment has created fertile ground for the establishment of design companies like crowdspring who compete on cost and work off of a “spec” model. Detractors of these services point out that they devalue the design profession, and that they are not in line with professional design standards. But ultimately, most customers care little about designs professional standards and will engage with whoever offers the best value-to-cost ratio.

Instead of railing against firms like crowdspring, designers need to ask, “how do clients value design?” The subjectivity of design is as much an issue in this discussion as anything. The ideas of “good” and “bad” design are only meaningful if there is a understood criteria that they are judged against. If Bob’s book sells a million copies, was the cover good, or bad? Read more »

In the face of increased competition through the democratization and globalization of design, how do designers make the profession competitive, profitable and sustainable over time? What is the new design business model? Read more »