If you ask me what my design philosophy is, I’ll ask you, “for designing what?” Whether you’re playing in aesthetics, building systems, finding technical solutions, or just trying to get shit done — almost everything is a design challenge.
My philosophy around this has been shaped by my experiences — which have been incredibly varied and challenging for different sets of conditions. I’ve led the design process for software, sales tools, publishing systems, e-commerce experience, learning environments, physical environments — all with variable teams, budgets, and timelines. A conclusion I’ve come to on that journey is that if you approach everything — even the most mundane of tasks — as a design exercise, you can really push yourself (and the people you work with), get to incredible outcomes, and still have fun.
Are you trying to define the future of your business? Are you launching a new service or experience? Do you have an onboarding problem? Is your team burned out on COVID? Do your staffing needs and budget not line up? Are you having trouble staying productive throughout the day? Do you have a mountain of TPS reports you need to get through? These are all problems you can solve with design thinking.
Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test!
Big or small, it works for almost anything because it forces considered action and learning. Go make stuff and come back to it with a learning mindset. And don’t forget to have fun!
Now check this out (pathing!) → The Corporate Arts Manifesto (more on this topic to come)