Thread Intelligence Article

October 16, 2003
By Maria Acosta

While trying to define the perfect design process to help improve the results of our work, I came to the realization that I needed to first identify the essential design components, analyzing not only what we do when we design, but how we do it. From that exploration, I identified three basic elements and how those elements should function during the design process.

Every design is defined by three basic components: inspiration, tools and people. Inspiration is how we begin or improve the direction of the design. Since good design is not linear, inspiration occurs throughout the design process. Tools are how we translate our thoughts and ideas in to the world, a tactile - often visual - continuation of our brain. People are the unifying element. They provide inspiration and are almost like another tool: an information resource with different backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints. People are also who we are designing for and offer the ultimate judgment on what is the right solution that best achieves the project objectives. We must be receptive to suggestions that improve the success of the design and incorporate them into our solution, even if it means breaking our initial vision.

Inspiration
Even before we pick up our design tools, visual design begins with inspiration. Traditionally, designers look for inspiration in the work of other designers, often spending a great deal of time flipping through "design books," beautifully crafted and impeccably presented. Now, with the Internet, we also have access to millions of visually attractive websites. We flip and we click, hoping to find inspiration, something that will get us started: a shape, a color, a type treatment, an idea.

While I think that this is a valuable part of the process, it is definitely not enough. Looking through lush books and state-of-the-art websites won't give us a specific answer to the problem that we have to resolve. Rather than an "inspirational" step, I think it is more accurate to call this process "referential."

The most critical step to a great solution is to understand the customer experience. That is why we have to look for inspiration in places that relate to the topic that we are dealing with, go where the customers will go, and experience what the customer will experience. This is the best way to clearly identify the problem or analyze how to improve an experience. For example, if we are designing a brochure to advertise shoes, we should do something as simple as visit shoe stores, or look at people's shoes, or even ask people why they like certain kinds of shoes. Talking to people and observing small human details, will stimulate our mind and our senses. More than just context, this will provide us with a rich source of inspiration directly related to the challenge we are attempting to meet.

Designers are expected to find new ways to show things, to innovate within the world of ideas, again and again. This is impossible without inspiration and an exploration of the magical world of the irrational. Not every act in design is rational. Even though the final result must often be rational, indescribable feelings and mystical ideas take place during the design process. Signals of inspiration instruct us to follow a unique approach. Inspiration is the irrational part of the design process where designers can feel free. It is a link to our art, where we recognize the wizard side of the concepts. To this point, we function as an artist, providing the basic pieces that can be massaged and crafted into understandable visual language. After all, while our art needs to be part of the process, at the end of the day we need to create effective communications for people.

Tools
While technology offers incredible opportunities to create designs more quickly, it limits us more than we realize. When we get ready to start a job, we are skipping more and more important parts of the design process, such as sketching. We jump to the computer screen, behaving almost like suicidal designers, interrupting the design process and limiting our possibility based on the capability of the tool. We are killing the magic of the design process even before it begins. By sketching on a blank piece of paper, our only limitations are a personal knowledge base and depth of creativity. Anything is possible.

Sketching frees us to experiment: We go farther, get crazier and discover more interesting and powerful concepts. Many visual designers begin their process at the computer, and even those who sketch don't always make the most out of it. For example, very rough concept sketches at a small size encourage us to jump from one idea or vision to the next, exploring a wide range of possible applications. You capture more ideas and progress as quickly as your mind is able, which proves to be a very powerful brainstorm. The purpose of sketching is to stretch our mind and possibilities. Doing the same sort of page-level concepting with a pencil is no more difficult than doing the same thing on the computer.

It is also important to remember all of the different tools we have to use. Visual designers naturally think about graphical elements and photography, but words and ideas are just as much a component to strong visual design. Visual design is about communication. As communicators, we should be able to capture and communicate words and ideas. This should even begin in the sketching phase. Now, I am not necessarily saying that visual designers should be writing the final copy, but we must think about how words will operate as a component of the design, and as a tool in our toolbox. We will then better understand words and ideas, overall project objectives and our collaborators.

People
People are the center of design. They are important to every design phase. We design for people and with people. We get inspiration from people and strive to provide inspiration for people. People help to make our designs better. People are the unifying elements for design.

How we work with people is an area that definitely needs improvement. Typically, we think about improving our skills as learning new techniques or upgrading our software. These are part of our development, but the most important improvements relate to how we work with other people. We are beginning to work with more and diverse people, plus assuming different roles and tasks during the design process. These experiences help us to learn from others and to understand other skills and components involved in the process. These trips to the unknown are exciting, enriching and inspirational - and greatly benefit our work. Design teams of the future will be very different, with team building based on personal skills and relationships as much as technical skills. More than ever, we will be people designing for people.

Motivation
To grow into and succeed in the future, we must learn to look for inspiration in the right places, take advantage of the available tools, and realize that people are the center of everything in design. In so doing, we must identify our personal motivation, which will definitely influence our work. Reality can be hard and discouraging, but our pursuit of design and the interactions with people during the design process can change that. Integration of our design with the way we live our life - and integrating our life into the way we design - can contribute to making our life and that of other people a little bit more understandable, comfortable and enjoyable. After all, while we might be engaged in business, we still need to have fun.

Author - Maria Acosta

Editor - Dirk Knemeyer

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