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Can you explain what a designer does?
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Last week, Kate Ivey-Williams, the Head of UCD on my programme, asked me: “What do you think your role is as a designer?” I said: “Errr... I design products that are easy to use... errr... I realise that’s a rubbish answer...” Kate saved me: “Don’t worry, I put you on the spot” But even so, as a designer you should be ready to be put on the spot because: If you aren’t able to explain what you do, it’s much harder for your teammates and stakeholders to value what you do. I messaged Kate later with a better answer: I help organisations design and deliver products and services that are more efficient, simpler, faster and easier to use.
I do this by taking (complex) problems and turning them into simple and accessible products, interfaces and interactions.
My work covers user journeys, navigation, forms, content and more. I can see the big picture as well as the small details.
My approach is to:
1. Discover user needs and design solutions to meet them
2. Challenge assumptions and constraints to build the right thing
3. Create realistic prototypes - not just pictures of software - to test with users and share with stakeholders
4. Be pragmatic - do as little as possible and iterate to build trust
My work is done when it’s in the hands of users providing value.
Kate said: “This is good. Do you have a line on ‘I work with service designers to…’?” She asked because I’m the interaction designer on a team with a service designer and content designer. So it’s helpful to clarify who does what. Here’s what I said: The way I see it is we’re all designing the same end-to-end service.
Service design, content design and interaction design aren’t separate stages handed off between us - they’re different lenses on the same problem.
Content designers look at everything, with a specialism in the words.
Interaction designers look at everything, with a specialism in the interface and interaction.
The best content designers look at the whole end-to-end journey, not just the words.
And I do the same as an interaction designer.
For example, I don’t use radio buttons without considering the question being asked, the words used to ask it, and even that it’s being asked at all. You can’t separate these things.
Service design is no different:
You can’t design a journey without considering what happens before it, after it, behind the scenes and across different channels.
What matters most is how you make the best use of people with different titles and skillsets.
To do that, you need to know how people see their role and where they feel best to spend their energy.
Kate said: “100% agree. We all have fuzzy edges, and many people are hybrid service/interaction designers.” If you’re a designer - doesn’t matter which variety - your title doesn’t define the limits of your work. So it’s worth knowing where your edges are. And being ready to say so. If you’re still working out where your edges are, my Good Design Crash Course is a good place to start. It’s a free, 33-minute video course that covers:
Sign up free here: Cheers, |
Design tips to help you create products that are ridiculously simple and accessible to use
Join 10,000+ designers, content designers and engineers who get my free weekly newsletter with evidence-based design tips (in 3 minutes or less). Mostly forms UX, but not always.
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