Comments on Building a Vision of Design Success

Sean Coon — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:51:49 GMT

Vision is a tough snowball to pack.

I absolutely agree with the concept of inclusion and collaboration, on all levels, to further the buy-in and traction of a project. It’s just a fine line to tow, and the line shifts daily depending on the make-up/experience of the team and/or size of the project.

We, by default as designers, tend to lean towards working in the mode of the auteur when building/sharing vision. It’s the core response to the art of creation; whether you’re an illustrator, scultptor or graffiti artist. But if there’s a few skills a sucessful ux designer must evolve to hold, is the wisdom to: listen, give, share and play nice.

Christina, you did a great job of explaining that in the language of adult. Now I just need to brand that reminder onto my arm.

Karl Long — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:17:49 GMT

Thanks Christina, this is a very good article that addresses the issue of aligning the effort of a team around a vision. Rare is the project now that the designer can be the benevolent dictator. The complexity of the things we need to build today require people from different disciplines to work together toward a common goal. Getting those people to work together creatively but in the same direction is a far more challenging problem than most organizations realize. I’ve used and advocated the idea of a project war-room for this purpose, to enable shared artifacts to be displayed, to help everyone keep in mind the 50,000 foot view while still working on the details.

In addition to the resources already mentioned, one of the best articles I’ve read regarding aligning teams around concpets was this HBR article, The Power of Product Integrity by Kim B. Clark; Takahiro Fujimoto

Rob — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:51:49 GMT

Thank you for a brief glimpse into the methodology of building consensus amongst the stakeholders. “Vision” is an easy word to loft around the board room, but, as you illustrate, there is a practical application hinging on defining the central idea guiding a project, lest the participants scurry around building components that work badly together and ultimately reinforce the status quo social structure within the enterprise while adding chaos.

More specifically, as Brendan suggests spending some time on the dark side, here are a couple of speed bumps that may doom a project from inception. 1) Ego and 2) Panic.

Ego refers to the inability for leaders or senior staff to accept input from the troops and often results in a facelift rather than a redesign, as much as imagination is suppressed in favor of bowing to the “ancestral” corporate mission statement from which the existing design was derived. e.g. “Add some nice graphics but don’t change the basic structure or content, for fear of dishonoring the leaders who approved it in the first place.”

Panic refers to the tendency of organizations to come to the realization that the current design is not effective and open themselves up to trendy but useless elements in a desperate attempt to remain or become relevant. e.g. Pull any number of brochures out of last year’s trade show goody bag, throw it over the developer’s cube wall with a note that says “I want this!” regardless of suitability and cost.

Two small notions:

As much as any design project requires some modicum of behavioral analysis, it might be appropriate to bring the intended audience into the process earlier in the visioning cycle. A vision is most effective when it agrees with the public archetype inherent in the line of business. Do this by shopping the competition and mining each and every interaction with a customer for direct and indirect feedback. Define the ideal, then become that.

Also,

Consider refraining from use of the term “redesign” and try to educate a client to view the project as a new invention. The result will be fresher and may stimulate a greater acceptance of change rather than a “keep-or-toss” feature inventory.

Thank you for a stimulating article.

aSH — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:51:49 GMT

Excellent article, great eXperience. Thank you.

Brendan Hamley — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:51:49 GMT

Wow! First in with a comment. Well here goes…

Cultural change:
To make a design shift, EVERYONE needs to make a cultural shift – no matter how small. Yes it’s about sharing a vision, but it’s also about agreeing strategy between all the different internal gangs and factions. Being able to articulate the ‘what’s in it for them/us’ factor with a chameleon like temperament – that’s what is needed here. Brush up on your persuasion engineering techniques and remember, a metaphor, word or phrase are far easier to transport than a 200 page specification.

People are molecules:
Pixel-shifters need to be skilled up beyond gaining ‘buy-in’, bean-counters need to spend time intrigued by the pixel-shifters, and big-pitch marketeers need to see all of the rainbow and not just the pot at the end. Create deliberate opportunities to mix them all up, get their DNA rubbing together, proud to talk up their part in the equation. Intensive Workshops are ideal for this and a great opportunity to design/create your people formula. You need to turn opinions into attitude – so, away from the comfort of their own gangs, try to manoeuvre folks into showing traits and interactions that are new for them.

Match the gears:
Designers (and re-designitects) should be aware that as their design gears are notching up to high speed torque, other areas such as technology and marketing have only just started up their engine. Avoid nasty sparks and grinding of relationships by thinking about this at all times.

Co-create not procrastinate:
Make sure your professional chops are up to scratch. Don’t design without rationale and be able to articulate this anytime about anything. Test, test and test. Get some statistics to reinforce your professionalism and design ethic. Document and styleguide your decisions and designs. Accurately specify time on that project plan,, and bring it when you said. Understand everybody’s part in the process from cleaner to coder. If you’re manging others, watch them – how are they bearing up?

Share the threat:
Finally, a strong commercial imperative such as urgent market pressure or the cost of NOT doing a project can bring out the old Blitz torn Londoner in anyone. All in it together; ”...it’s not just about why we should do something, it’s about what happens if we don’t”. Spend time with the darkside then put a positive spin on to it.

A great article – thanks.