“The things we think and do not say: The future of our business”
Originally posted on August 6, 2010
Currently there is no company that provides a great way to find usable, relevant, and immediate customer support. (Company A) needs to tap into this market, by creating a community through the use of their applications.
In the future, software companies are going to standout from the competition by creating a social network based on their existing user-base. Since there are millions of customers that use (Company A) products, such a network will be available instantaneously and will include a massive knowledge base from which users can tap into. Because of this large user-based-model, solutions to users problems will be answered instantaneously, and satisfaction levels will grow. As satisfaction levels grow, (Company A)’s brand equity will become more positive and increased sales will naturally follow.
Most software purchases are hindered by fears related to adopting new technology. Adaptation and sales, especially in our current economy, hinder on (Company A)’s ability to answer and calm these fears. To these companies, its not about saving a relatively small amount of money, but about the assurance that the product being sold will ‘work’ seamlessly within their current infrastructure.
The online experience, the inspirational ‘wow’ factor, helps, but is attributed more to the company/firm who provides the experience. When one finds a site, which inspires them, that augments their experience, they don’t think about the software that built it, so much as the company/design firm who created it.
That’s not to say that (Company A)’s online marketing isn’t important, but that it plays a smaller role in sales. The same can be said for ‘saving time and money’. It is important, but it doesn’t address the fear of adopting a new technology, for even if a product is shown to save time, the data is relative to a company’s ability to quickly implement and learn it.
In conclusion, (Company A) must focus on assuaging the fear that customers have when upgrading to their products. They need to tap into the huge user-base that already exists and turn it into a knowledge base that is both usable, easily accessible, and quick.
(Company A) already has the means to gather information. Application installations provide relevant information about their customer and specific needs. There are product user forums, (Company A) ID, etc. However nothing is centralized. The fragmentation of user groups makes searching for support on (Company A).com a terrible experience, which leads to poor customer satisfaction levels.
(Company A) needs to refocus on the customer, letting them know that the company cares about their post-purchase needs, and understands the issues they may encounter. (Company A)’s customer base is intelligent enough to understand the difference between marketing campaigns and are therefore conditioned to ignore most, if not all if it.
The first step (Company A) needs to take is to consolidate their user-base thereby strengthening their knowledge base. Future installations of software will automatically provide each user, not only with an ID, but a centralized area on (Company A).com, which is personalized to their needs. They should be able to input questions within applications, and get instant notifications without having to go back and forth between the browsers/email-clients. This solution streamlines the process and addresses the sense of immediacy that our society has come to expect.
(Company A) needs to be the leader in this. As it currently doesn’t successfully exist in the market, the immediacy of (Company A) to address and implement such a solution is of utmost importance.
iPhone 4G speaks to the black and white audience
Originally published on June 10, 2010
I have a confession to make.
I pre-ordered the iPhone 4G and received it a day before the launch date (today). I used that extra day to squeeze every ounce of attention out of my co-workers and those within eyesight (hell, I’m still waving it around like a flag on Memorial Day). Its totally shameless and some would say self-depricating to the extent of being seen as a Apple zombie/fanboy kneeling at the shrine of Steve. I admit that have that false sense of superiority which comes from owning a object that people line up days in advance for. But you know what? I don’t care. I’m going to revel in it as much as I can. Why? Because I can. Because I know that a huge percentage of my decision to buy an iPhone 4G was to be able to rub people’s nose on it. If I waited a month or two it would just be a phone, but because I was one of the very few who had one the day before its more than that. As the days pass by the ‘value’ of having an iPhone will depreciate dramatically, and so I feel I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Its and ego thing, but in the words of the prophetic Sheryl Crow, if it makes me happy, it can’t be that bad right?
Over the course receiving it in the mail, taking and importing a picture of it to my Flickr and Facebook accounts, flaunting it to the point of receiving scorn, and now, I’ve made some interesting observations. I’ve noticed that people are either open in their interest or flaunting in their disinterest.
When it comes to Apple in particular, response is as black and white as their products tend to be. People tend hate or love the company and their products for a variety of reasons and there is no middle ground. I know its a bold blanket statement to make, but I truly believe this -and it, quite frankly, annoys the hell out of me.
So I thought I’d write about it.
When it comes to high-profile products people need to get past the notion that they feel the need to bash or love it. This is especially the case with designers. Designers are naturally inclined to criticize everything, and though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it is definitely a close-minded thing. I know this because I’m an expert at it. Whether its a crush to the ego ‘How dare Steve not solicit my awe-inspiring design input before creating this horrendous piece of crap!’, or defensive response ‘Why didn’t I think of that? I suck -wait no I don’t, that evil corporation does!’, there’s no denying that ‘self-actualization mode’ kicks into overdrive.
Whether or not you believe that the iPhone is a ‘game changer’, you can’t deny its underlying impact on society. Sure, its been hyped by the media and Apple’s marketing department, but that doesn’t make it a bad device nor does it make Apple an evil empire. Responding in this way makes as much sense as voting party-line during election time.
If anything, the fact that iPhone opponents feel the need to publicly bash it or go out of the way to say that its an ‘unimpressive’ device proves that it is, in effect, impressive. When something is unimpressive to me, it unconsciously placed somewhere on the level of ‘a grain weevil crawling up a tree with a grain of rice in Northern Africa’. You won’t find me arguing for or against the efficiency of an unimpressive subject.
I’m not saying that the iPhone 4 is without fault. It has plenty of missing pieces. The service sucks, its heavy, its relies on a closed-system controlled by a tyrannically controlled corporation, it scratches easily (arguable), battery life sucks (also arguable), etc.. But that’s not the point really. These complaints are grain weevils in a world of people with big boots.
Regardless of whether or not you like its industrial/interface design, or Apple’s underlying business strategy, the fact of the matter is that they’re pushing technology forward. Some may say its not enough, but in my opinion, something that makes people even come to that conclusion is successful.
Anyone can criticize a design. Designers are super-awesome at this. Some have good reasons, and their complaints are valid. But lets not get stuck in the hate too much that we are unable to see potential. At some point, we need to concede to the positives and build off of it. At some point, we need to be able to appreciate the contributions of all. Evil money-grubbing corporations included.
Leadership from a junior designer
Originally pubished on May 19, 2010
I wrote this back in 2000 when I was still a ‘fresh out of school’ designer. Its interesting to re-read my perspective from an older point of view. It definitely gives some insight when it comes to growing others.
“People need something to believe in. Whether it comes from inner strength or the motivating characteristics of those around them, the human psyche, in order to grow and evolve, has to first believe that they can succeed and grow towards something great. We have come to believe that we live in a world in which the strong survive. It is a world that can be conquered only by those who have a strong belief in themselves and the people who work with them to achieve their goals. It is a world in which strong leadership and teamwork create and follow through the goals that change the world in which we live. It is the job of the leader, to maintain focus and push the morale of his coworkers. It is also the job of the leader, to direct others into believing in themselves and their common goals in order to succeed.
As a company continues to grow, their people and their leadership abilities must continue to grow as well. An effective way for people to develop their leadership skills is by learning from the experiences of their peers.”
You can’t ‘heart’ what you don’t own
Originally posted on May 15, 2010
A lot of hate has been exchanged across the web as of late. Apple’s complaining about Adobe’s software, Adobe’s complaining about Apple’s plans for mobile domination, etc..
With individuals jumping on the bandwagon with ‘facts’ and ‘facts about the facts’, it is clear that its become a political free-for-all. Simply-put, its not about doing what’s right for the public, and it shouldn’t be.
For one, Apple and Adobe are not ‘good people‘. They’re corporations which create products that happen to be beneficial to the livelihood of a group of individuals. I would say, mankind, although I just realized there’s not a preference in Adobe’s software to ‘solve world-hunger’ nor a button on a mac labeled ‘world peace’.
What these companies make, enable others, but past that, they’re not, nor should be, responsible for the output of those who make a conscious investment in their services.
To say that either publicly-traded, profit-based, company is ‘bad or evil’ in the sense of its virtuosity to humankind, is an oxymoron. With that said, any argument which implies ‘the good of all’ in its thesis should be ignored, and its author tagged under ‘defensive’, ‘fanboy’, ‘erectile dysfunction’, ‘Note from CEO’, ‘overpaid-marketing firm’, etc..
What upsets me is that there are a lot of really intelligent people out there who have bought into the emotional plea of both companies. Facts become irrelevant, and reviews turn into flamewars fueled by defensiveness and personal vendetta. The word ‘open’ gets thrown out and immediately defined as ‘for the people’, when in actuality its a rope pulled over a big ditch of bullshit in a childish game of tug-o-war.
Simply put, we can’t rely on companies such as these to make or break innovation. The word ‘open’ doesn’t belong to either of them, and yet somehow we’ve allowed them to create their own definition to it.
As individuals, we shouldn’t feel the need to depend on others to set the limitations of what we can do. Any argument for ‘open-ness’ based on either company’s definition is not a valid one, for it stands not on the strength of the individual, but on that of a self-serving corporation.
Design limited to technical constraints is like art limited to social constraints. It doesn’t exist, if in doing so it wouldn’t be an act of creation.
So, to conclude, stop bitching and start doing. You’re too smart to fall into this ditch.
Formulating problems
Originally posted on May 13, 2010
What does this mean? Up until recently I hadn’t really giving it much thought past a problem that had been presented to me in the form of a project.
Cognitively, its always been ‘What is the solution?’, and I would work in coming up with a ‘design answer’. It is only from this inverted line of questioning that I can answer more completely.
A question such as this is almost immediate followed with a sense of ‘panic’. I call these ‘disruptive problems’. Its when I realize that I don’t have an immediate answer, and that I lose the chance of credibility knowing that I won’t be able to provide an immediate articulate solution.
This entry is actually my attempt to answer the question, “How do I formulate a problem?”
At first, I thought it was a silly question. Then I thought it was a typo. Then I hoped it was a typo. When I finally came to grips that it was a legitimate query. I panicked. Why? Because I didn’t have an immediate answer. I’ve solved problems in the past but it had never occurred to me how I came up with a problem. I took it for granted that it just existed and didn’t need to be ‘conjured’ up.
I immediately became defensive, however the more I thought about the question, the more I realized that it was wholly legitimate, and an opportunity to grow from answering it.
I realized that by replacing the word ‘question’ with that of ‘problem’ helped me immensely.
“How do we create a social networking site that is different than what exists?” is a problem.
“What, exactly, are the clients needs?” is a problem.
“Why is the current business model not succeeding?” is a problem.
In conclusion, I’ve found value in challenging myself to answer the question, “How do you formulate problems?” It’s forced me to be able to articulate and form an answer not just to it, but also the projects that I’ve worked on in the past and in the future.
It takes a different perspective, a different angle of questioning, to fully understand something we may not otherwise be able to articulate. It’s important to evaluate yourself whenever you feel ‘threatened’. A defensive reaction should be an alert that there’s an opportunity to grow. Thinking that you have a solution to every problem is a roadblock to success.
Quote of the day: Martha Graham
Originally posted on May 12, 2010
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”–Martha Graham
Process
Originally posted on May 11,2010
Recently I’ve been asked about my process when approaching a project design.
Abridged Version:
Get to know your client and their business objectives
Get to know the client’s audience
Immerse yourself in objective research so that you can define and back up your understanding of their product, including technical constraints and abilities
Come up with an interaction design model and, in the case of a website, a comprehensive sitemap and storyboard
Come up with at least 3 visual design directions
Build out design, while maintaining communication with your client/stakeholder
Most importantly, deliver with your integrity in check
Execution throughout all the steps are more involved and painful, but for the sake of simplicity, this is the general process I follow.
What’s yours?
Design is not a project
Originally posted on May 11, 2010
Its a common theme. When I started work right out of school, I thought I knew a lot about what good design was. It was the award-winners in Communication Arts annuals and other magazines I would comb through on the racks at Borders. It was the work of legends like Paul Rand, the the unreadable type treatment of David Carson, and anything Apple.
My first client work at Studio Archetype/Sapient was for HP’s eServices in 1999, and I was damned if I were to design a site without overlapping words. Surely, HP would understand and appreciate the value of such ‘cutting-edge’ design, and I would be an instant design rockstar on my way to climbing the ladder of greatness. I would have books dedicated to me like Tibor Kalman. I’d start a design firm and make plastic wrapped books. Who cared about HP’s brand guidelines? What were those? Weren’t we hired to tell them how to design an award-winning website?
Presentation day came and I waited for my Design Director to leave the meeting to give me the good news. That the client was overwhelmed with the brilliance of unreadable and un-renderable type. And when he finally appeared and I asked what they thought of my design, I was told it wasn’t even presented. Needless to say, that would be the first of many disappointments in my route to growth and maturity.
Looking back, I start to laugh out loud at my ignorance, and then I realize that it hasn’t really left. I’ve learned a lot over the past eleven years to know better. I’ve matured as a designer, and have come to fully realize that the underpinnings of design, its strength is grounded in research, understanding, and humility. However, it would be disingenuous of me to think that I have lost all traces of ignorance. To deny the fact that there is still room to grow, and learn from others.
Design is too big for such small thinking. Its not images, typographic treatments, Photoshop/Flash mastery, nor thought alone. These are all things that have a beginning, middle, and end.
Design is how we live our lives and how we communicate with each other, and therefore, has no aspect of ‘finality’.
However, its not words either. We need to be careful that we don’t become salesmen. That we use words that fall in line with what others expect to hear. There are many out there, directors in particular, who have forgotten what it means to be a designer. They reach back into their library of phrases, they know what others want to hear, and they’re able to deliver ‘solutions’ that are so conceptual that they become New Age Oracles. That’s not to say that conceptual thinking is bad, but its not the apex of design. It doesn’t make one a great designer. It makes one a great speaker.
There will always be problems in the world that need to be solved. Design is not a project. It’s the basis of human thought and communication.
By continually challenging ourselves find design in ignorance.
What are you waiting for? Challenge me. :)
The selling out of fashion
Originally posted on May 10, 2010
The fashion industry is frustrated. For a while now, it has tried to push its ideals onto the masses through fantasy and experiences so far removed from the realities of everyday life without so much of a bite. When you walk downtown, you see ads upon ads of ‘life’. At least that is what you think it is until you realize that you and those around you look nothing like those metaphysical beings in the Banana Republic/Diesel/Gap ads. It follows us home as well. We go home and are constantly being barraged with television ads in and out of syndication.
Its not so much the fact that beautiful people are playing our roles, and are trying to define our lifestyle, for most of us can see beyond the painfully obvious. It is the things that you don’t really see so much. The things that stick around in your head way after you turn off the set or pass by a huge billboard. It is the ‘life’ that is unreal, it is the ‘life’ that slowly gets placed into subconscious, something that belongs in it only because we have become systematically taught to believe it is ideal.
However it is not real. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself, for believing in the life they sell only leads to disappointment. That’s not to say that you can never feel beautiful, for some of us can. Some of us look better than those we see in ads, or at least feel that we do at times. The fact is that, although you may feel like you belong to the ‘life’, and that you can sometimes find happiness in being ‘beautiful’ and perceiving yourself as belonging within the billboard window looking out into the world –a boundary has been created.
On one side you have reality and on the other side you have the ideal. If you are on the side of reality, you are unhappy because you are rejected by the ideal, and the ideal is good, the ideal is the goal and the goal equals ultimate happiness. If on the other hand you perceive yourself as fitting within the ideal, you will find that it is only a matter of time until you realize that you are living a lie, and that there is no content behind that lie. When the ads stop and the next season comes along, you either reinvent yourself to follow the trends or snap out of the trance and find yourself a mess of high maintenance materialism – a soul that has pledged its undying allegiance to the GAP.
The good news is that most of us realize this, and that is precisely why the fashion industry, in particular its marketing division, is frustrated. For the most part, it can’t get the average consumer to buy into its lifestyle anymore, and thus can not sell its products. I myself like their ads. I enjoy seeing what gimmicks and stories the fashion industry creates. Hell, being a designer, it is my job to help such companies find a way to grab interest, to lure, to sell the impermanent and to define a lifestyle. Perhaps that is why I can sympathize with the fashion industry, because in a way, their problem is my problem.
So what is the answer? How can the fashion industry succeed. In trying to define how people should live, in trying to push an ‘experience’ that may or may not have existed, they have created a new form of entertainment. Or is it the other way around? I guess what I really want to say, at least the reason why I started this whole thought process, is that I’ve seen the fashion industry for the first time, try to create a new ideal. It is the ideal of reality. Perhaps it has been done before. No, in fact I know its been done before, but it seems to be more prevalent these days. And its not just that fashion industry, it seems that every marketing scheme nowadays are focusing on the ‘real’ person. Is the fashion industry as well as the rest of the marketing world coming to grips that they just can’t win? Are they in fact, giving up to reality? Only time will tell.
Beyond the blue sky
Originally posted on May 10, 2010
Below is a letter I wrote to my boss in 2007. At the time, I was engaged in growing my skill set in motion graphics design. Long and short of it, I needed a new machine. However, as we all know, most of the time you can’t just ask for a fancy new piece of hardware. You have to bitch, moan, whine, and be prepared to lose a certain amount of pride in doing so (cue squeaky wheel).
Joking (sorta) aside, I felt that, because new technology paradigms are quickly being introduced, static design comps, no matter how refined they are, don’t tell half the story when it comes to explaining a design solution. Clients need to be seen how new devices will react to human input, and vice-versa. Common understanding of such things as a ‘virtual environment’, are limited in its analogy to science fiction abstracts seen in movies such as Minority Report, Iron Man, and even Fahrenheit 451 and Logan’s Run back in the day.
The days of dreaming are over. What were once ‘blue sky’ ideas a couple of years ago are rapidly becoming necessary tools needed to solve real-world problems. We can no longer speak in terms of ‘what could be if only we had the technology’, for now we do. It is irresponsible for us as designers to fall back on explanation through fictional analogies and expect users to understand the things that we design for.
Just as interaction design helps to define thesis, and visual design illustrates interaction, motion graphics has become an necessity in explaining design and to introduce the real-life benefits that emerging technologies bring into our lives.
The letter:
“First of all, I want to thank you for your understanding and support regarding my career growth goals. To tell you the truth, I was a bit concerned that I may not have explained my intentions clearly enough. I know that I mentioned that ‘I did not want to do websites’ anymore, however that is not true. I understand my role at the company requires me to do so, and for the most part, I enjoy it. However, after working almost exclusively on websites for over 10 years, I feel the need to grow my digital media skill set beyond websites, finding particular interest in the realm of motion graphics. As we discussed, motion graphics can be a strong component in enhancing our storytelling abilities when explaining concepts and interaction to clients. It also adds value to the overall experience that our company can deliver (as seen in deliverables we’ve created in the past through Mr. A’s help).
As I’m sure you’re aware, traditionally our company has employed the use of motion graphic design to market our industrial design discipline. Little if anything has been created in this field to support digital media from a visual design perspective –our Austin office being an exception. Seeing deliverables from our competitors, it is clear that incorporating motion graphics to explain concepts through scenarios not only adds a ‘richer’ experience, but also enhances the overall ‘wow factor’ of professional deliverables. As the digital realm becomes more associated with video, I believe that such an experience will move from being an ‘enhancement’ to an expected norm, not only in explaining concepts, but in the conceptualization process itself. As web experiences move closer to mimicking the ‘real-world’, motion-based experiences are obviously an inevitable evolution.”
The ego has crash landed
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
It is embarrassing to think that a lot of what drives design is ego, and yet I understand this because it drives me. However, it is one thing to be honest about it, and another to pass it off as being ‘altruistic’ in nature. I believe that a lot of designers fool themselves in believing that they are good people. Most of the time, its a lie. There are good outcomes, but ultimately we need to face the fact that we’re all in it for ourselves.
Mind me, that isn’t a bad thing.
The bad thing is believing, and selling yourself otherwise.
I am currently working on a team which posts their contributions on a blog for others to review. When I joined the group I noticed that before each blog the author makes it clear that they were a contributing factor and that they ‘get credit’ for what they post. Now, this isn’t a bad thing in practice. It can be argued that it is not ego driven, but that of accountability -but that’s pure smokescreen.
The fact is that there exists some sort of mental gratification which comes from putting your name on work regardless of your level of contribution. It could be that you’ve made a comment, suggestion, critique and then posted a link to the work. Does that make your a contributor? The question is a moral one.
My manager recently sent out an email attributing designers with their responsibilities and contributions. The email was quickly appended by another colleague attributing herself to particular projects of which she had made minor contributions to. I don’t know about common opinion, but suggesting that a line is a pixel off, doesn’t exactly deem ‘contribution’.
What bugs me is the obvious need for attention. The word ‘opportunist’ comes in mind. I mean, seriously, such an act is a pretty pathetic (and obvious) call for undeserved attention.
I myself, detest the whole “I did this!” mentality, and I definitely don’t respect those who feel the need to garner such attention.
A designer’s skill should be self-evident in their work, and those who need to be made aware of said designer’s contribution are poor leaders.
That said, I pity those who feel the need to ‘sign’ their names to collaborative work in order to gain attraction.
It is the quality of work that defines a person. Feeling that you must promote oneself with a signature is a desperate call for personal relevance.
Being the best
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
How do you know if you’ve found ‘the best’ solution? Can it be directly attributed to hours spent pulling hair and rubbing the space between your eyes? Certainly time is an important factor when it comes to creating a quality solution, but it also no doubt must center on how you spend the time. I usually wake up as early as possible, get a good cup of coffee, and crank out ideas to get the most efficient use of time. But there’s always the thought in the back of my head that someone more talented than me is waking up earlier, getting better coffee, and cranking out better ideas with the same amount of time. I mean, with thoughts like that you just can’t win, and I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact that there will always be someone better, and better coffee somewhere… So what was my point again? I mean, did I come up with the best solution? If we go by the presumption that there is always someone better out there then I guess we can also say that if they happened to be ‘at the right place, at the right time’ and got the job instead of me, that they would have found the better solution right? And it’s not just me, I always look at ads, even really good ones and can’t help but wonder, what if they hired the person that was better than that person, and that person had better coffee? And I can’t help but think that, that would be the better solution, and then I just feel bad since the better person is probably doing another job that would be better suited for the person that’s doing the worst job than them on the particular piece that I’m looking at. It’s like, what if life was orchestrated in such an un-optimized use of talent on purpose, so that the best person for the job was never really utilized for it? Even more disturbing (and perhaps a more universal fear) what if the same were true for relationships? These are things we can never know, and doesn’t that just bug the hell out of you?!
The painful process of design
Originally posted on May 5th 2010
Going through the stressful part of the design process that comes before the ‘big idea’. Not happy with my work and not inspired with the project itself, it’s been tougher than usual. Apply that to the fact that I’ve already been going through a visual re-haul of my current ‘style’ and things aren’t looking so good in the creative growth space. I remember wanting to be a better designer when I first started. I just couldn’t ‘get there’ no matter how hard I tried. It was frustrating then as it is now, but the difference is that I know that this can be overcome through experience. You just can’t jump the process it takes to get to where you want to go. It takes a lot of stress, a lot of denial, a lot of re-thinking, and re-evaluation.
The author, Dean Koontz writes,“When I am writing a novel, I experience bleak spells of deep self-doubt about my work, moments of surging confidence, despair, followed by joy–although there are usually more dark moments than bright.”
Dancer and choreographer Martha Graham is quoted as saying,“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
I should be flattered that resourcing is fighting to get me on their projects, but it just seems so overwhelming at this point. I wish I could just take a break from all of it and be somewhere else, but then there’s the money thing.
Design block
Originally published on May 5th, 2010
The big boss hasn’t been really happy with the work we’ve produced thus far and I have to agree. Our stuff is crap. I’m in a design slump. Maybe I’m thinking too much. A co-worker told me to get away from using dark colors. Why is that so hard for me? Black works so much better when you want certain objects to ‘pop’ out. White is boring and too many colors are cheeseball. It’s not that I’m opposed to using colors it’s just that I can’t. Colors should follow the same rule as font usage -that you don’t use more than 2-3 of them. At least that’s the rule I’ve always followed.
As a digital designer I was thinking of my basic toolset and it comes to: Color, shape, font, logos, photos -and for each one of them I’ve established ‘rules’ -lines that I don’t feel entirely comfortable crossing because I know that, until I can fully grasp and feel comfortable with something different, I need time to get used to using it -and with the pace that things are going, I don’t have that luxury. The project that I’m currently on will determine
Sooner or later I’m going to have to face my fears and get acquainted with rainbows, serif fonts, and circles.
An email to Frog, while working for them
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
There is no doubt that this project could have gone a lot better as could a lot of frog projects. I can blame resourcing, sales, management, etc. but it would be too generic –a blanketing problem for strategic consultancies. So what is the problem? It’s the passive-aggressiveness of the blame. I for one would love to be able to tell people directly (with an emphasis on constructiveness) how I feel about their work, not to demean, but to have that much more of a firmer leg to stand on when it comes to delivering value to our clients. The bottom line is that we’re all smart individuals who are more than ‘capable’ of doing great work, but this can’t happen without mutual respect for one another.
I learned early on that with the MSVE project we would have to sacrifice quality for rapid conception. I made the mistake of placing too much emphasis on creating a solid and consistent visual design created before solid concepts had been formed. It was not until the particular concept I was working on was thrown out, that I realized that the project’s fast-paced nature meant sacrificing visual integrity in order to get our ideas across. This is not to say that there wasn’t an effort on my part to create a compelling visual style, but that I had to balance it out for the sake of time.
In an ideal world, concepts are created, wireframes (at least a structural map) are understood, and design is able to bridge the gap between the two to hand off to development. However, oftentimes, as in the MSVE project, phases overlap and everything ends up happening at the same time. I’ve worked on several projects like this to understand that it’s a problem that is acceptable, and I have no complaints with it in general. However, what I do have a problem are the unfair expectations placed on individuals and how it translates into blame. Perhaps it is human nature to blame others when it comes to under delivering and scope creep. I find myself doing so at times. But is it fair? As a team, we’re ALL responsible for the success of a project. At the same time we should all be cognoscente of project restraints and how it affects every member of the team. It’s extremely hard to know that one needs to sacrifice even a bit of visual design integrity in the interest of time, but if I’ve learned anything from this project, that is it. It’s frustrating to know that one can produce a more solid visual design, but are not able to because of a lack of resources -including commitment from clients. Being the smart and creative people that we are, it’s hard to accept the fact that we can’t do everything. For many of us, the thought of inadequacy is a hard pill to swallow. It stresses us out and when we fail in our expectations and we are led to question our ability to deliver ‘the perfect solution’. We don’t take into account that we all feel the same stress, and self-doubt within ourselves and because we need to reinforce our own abilities, we end up focusing on those of others. This is, I believe, is what has happened on the MSVE project.
Let’s recognize the fact that part of working with others should be fun. Let’s recognize the fact that it’s OK to joke around and even poke fun at one another from time to time. Let’s recognize that we all have individual personalities which extend beyond the working environment –personalities, which, in today’s society is acceptable to display in an office environment. But at the same time, let’s recognize that we are professionals who are getting paid to deliver our vast talents and expertise, and in order to do so, need to respect and work with one another.
The time spent working with the MSVE team has been a vast amount of fun, and I enjoy the company and camaraderie of everyone on the team. However, I feel that when it comes to work, the comfortability we’ve achieved with one another, has become detrimental to the respect that we give one another as a team. The fact that I’ve gotten ‘hung up’ on internal teleconferences doesn’t facilitate our ability to deliver –especially when it comes down to the wire. I don’t want to assume that it was done to be funny, because it wasn’t, but I don’t know what other reason there could be, given that I’m was attempting to confirm what needs to be done. If I were to stoop to the level of constructive feedback as ‘stylize to not suck’, I would say ‘grow up and be a professional’(albeit in different words)especially if you expect me to deliver on time. I would also advise you to look into the situation from my point of view. Power Points which number up to 17, 3 of which span the course of a day and include wireframes created at the last moment, does not help anyone to deliver quality work in the allocated amount of time. My impression, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that it’s OK for you to deliver last minute scenario changes, and not acceptable for me to deliver high-quality visual design comps done in less than a couple of hours (refer to John’s count-down via IM). I would love to accept the fact that such an assumption is wrong and that I may be over-reacting to the situation, but if I’m not and you are in fact judging my performance, I have to say that I’ve misjudged you as the professionals you are paid to be.
Design is a battlefield
Originally posted on May 5, 2010
Up until this point, I don’t remember being afraid of sacrificing integrity. When it came to design, it was always well thought out and discussed. Decisions were made based on smart design thinking. Attention to detail was appreciated. We had the time, we could afford to argue our points and to get things done right. Picking your battles meant a game of chess, now it means engaging in the next World War.
The playing field, just as everything else in this world, has changed. We have been forced into playing war games in which battles are not fought fairly, but through shady dealings, under dimly lit tents in the middle of hidden forests. Many of us were never prepared for this, many of us never had to fight between exchanging their integrity for their survival.
The age of affluence, of freedom, of being able to take chances is over. True, we are a lot of the cause for our predicament, but who can really blame a responsible person from taking a part in the ‘American Dream’?
This world in which I find myself waking up to is strange. Its as if I’m having to readjust my expectations every day -no, with nearly every encounter. There are more hidden landmines in the playground. Things said in jest are taken as threats, and often become escalated to confrontation.
When did a simple exchange of ideas become an opportunity to seize upon one’s weaknesses? When did we have to start raising the white flag within our own trenches. When did interoffice letters become stamped with ‘Top Secret’ or ‘For your eyes only’? When did progress get replaced and halted by paranoia?
I, for one, am finding it extremely hard to live in such a world that can’t move ahead. And yet, in such chaos, find myself running with leaded heels to the nearest bomb shelter, leaving much of who I am behind. I feel defenseless. My thoughts are unheard in this cold, noiseless vault I find myself in. I am stripped naked of my ‘weapons’. I want to leave, but can’t let go to the hope that the radiation will eventually dissipate and allow me to retrieve the parts which needed to be amputated in order for me to ‘fit in’. I just hope that in the search I will be able to find the most important one -my voice.
What’s the Remedi?
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
The other day, I felt disheartened, a bit betrayed, and somewhat empathetic towards someone I once (still) admire as a great inspiration. It all stemmed from 5 words: Its all about the money.
First of all, let me clarify that I like money -no I LOVE money. I love making it and I love spending it. It buys me luxuries and experiences that i wouldn’t be able to have. It allows me to travel, meet new and interesting people, and to learn. It plays a part of who I am, who I want to be in terms of projection. It allows me to fantasize. It allows me to live fantasies. The fact is, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without money and I am grateful to have it.
However, its NOT about the money. Its about how you receive it. Its about you pursuing what you love and being paid for your passion. Without that element, one doesn’t deserve it, and if I ever find myself believing otherwise, I will have died somewhere in between -perhaps not even aware of it.
I met my mentor nearly 10 years ago at a design conference. He was one of the speakers, someone known for pushing the boundaries of technology and creating art from it. His speech was impassioned. His voice articulated and pronounced by his passion for not only design, but art. There are certain people that resonate with you. People with whom you connect with immediately. Whose passion is conducive to your growth. Someone who pushes you forward to your ultimate destiny. He was one of them. His passion was true, and his thoughts emboldened with inspired intelligence. He stood in front of the crowd without fear. With a confidence that came from wanting to change the world, and I grasped onto it so much that I met up with him after wards and bought a t-shirt, not only to help promote his ’cause’ but as a source of inspiration.
I still have the t-shirt. It’s shrunk and faded. It has holes. But I still have it. The t-shirt that was handed to me almost 10 years ago, and one that I will never let go of.
Why? Why do I still have it, especially since the man who had created it is no more? Because I still believe in that person. The person who spoke to me so many years ago. The person who believed in his art and sharing his passion with the world. The person who responded to a young designer’s emails with long paragraphs of knowledge and direction. Emails which weren’t paid for, but will always be priceless. It is the voice of the few who have defined who I am as a designer today. One doesn’t put in the time to respond in paragraphs to a relative stranger unsolicited without believing in something greater than money.
Even though that person has changed. Even though that person now tries to elicit from me the fact that its ‘about the money’. I still believe, not only in design, but in that person. I will never succumb, I will never believe in what he believes of himself.
There are many ways of ‘making money’, as well as good reasons (raising a family, etc.). However, I don’t believe -I refuse to believe that money is THE motivational factor in my life. Its NOT all about the money. Money is the merely the reward of believing in something greater. The belief that one can live their lives and be appreciated for their passion.
I make my pledge here and now to never lose sight of that. I pledge that I will NEVER believe that its ‘all about the money’. Money is merely a reward which must be spent to continue to live for what you believe in.
Even though the person who made that t-shirt doesn’t believe it that anymore, that t-shirt will remain his legacy to me and it will serve as a reminder, as a testament of what I live for.
The problem with Adobe
Originally posted May 5th, 2010
This time sent to the ‘smart people at (Company A)’
The problem is not that so much what I wrote, but that (Company A) and everyone who has used (Company A) products already knows it. (Company A) ignores the customer when it comes to support their currently released products, and ‘addresses’ problems (albeit cherry-picked) as ‘new features’ in their next product. This is where the ‘sin’ of feigning ignorance meets low-sales. Addressing customer issues by making them shell out thousands of dollars on an update (renamed upgrade) is just plain dumb. Customers know this, (Company A) knows that customers know this (if they take time to read the support forums), and yet they refuse to adapt their business model. If anything, this economy should serve as a wake-up call, and yet (Company A) is still pretending to sleep and hoping nobody notices.
This is not a complaint. We’re people who want to help our company. We are people who can’t work in an environment where they can’t make a difference. Corporate ladders be damned. If the people in the middle aren’t moving they’re useless in a sinking ship.
To quote from Geoffrey Moore:
“-risk reduction is often a form of camouflage used by underperforming and disaffected employees who seek to avoid accountability or act out their frustrations in minor acts of passive-aggressive terrorism, pulling down anything that ventures to soar up. This creates huge frustration among leaders who cannot understand why everyone does not collaborate for the greater good… In order to break away, we must overcome risk-reduction mentality and lack of corporate alignment. Neither is a natural act.”
Now, I’m not privy to what’s going on in the BU’s heads/meetings, but what I do know is the output of them, and frankly, it’s crap. It’s not making (Company A) money, it’s lowering customer satisfaction and adoption rates, etc.. By being risk-adverse they’re actually increasing risk in the competitive market.
There are a lot of smart people at (Company A) who know this. It’s not rocket-science. It’s fear that’s keeping them from being pro-active. Like in any hierarchical system, people are so afraid of upsetting their bosses that they end up outputting what they think they’re boss ‘wants’ and aren’t doing their job. They’re afraid to ‘disagree’ and so presentations are catered to what they think others want to hear. Job security/personal issues aside, this doesn’t help an employee’s growth and it definitely doesn’t help their company to succeed.
It’s not about idealism, and ‘fighting an oppressive force’. It’s about stepping back and seeing things from the customer’s perspective if you truly care about your and your company’s success. We’re getting plenty of ‘input’, and aren’t succeeding because our ‘output’ isn’t inline with it.
I agree that we need to have a ‘procedural methodology’, especially in a company as large as ours, but we need to adapt it so that things can actually be done.
The CEO, Big Boss B, Big Boss C, are fellow CO-WORKERS. They’re not gods, and they (we) shouldn’t think of themselves as such. As history has shown us, while through politics or business, good leaders know the value of those who work with them to innovate and grow. Leaders who rule through fear and intimidation eventually see their empire crumble around them.
So again, it’s not idealism which drives my mails, but knowing that if we don’t change our output, the company we work for WILL fail.
Scotland
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
My trip abroad has given me a new perspective. Its given me a glimpse out of this looping tunnel which has been spiraling down as of late, and has allowed me to get a better understanding of where the ‘new leadership’ views my role in the company. Its given me a better understanding of the man in charge, his vision, and though I’ll not venture to say my perceptions are entirely accurate, I don’t feel that I have time to find out. At this point I feel that its safe to say that the experience of working on the CS4 website, and the creative influence that I had on it will be diminished in the re-org of my team. I’ve felt it for awhile, but I could never pin-point what it was that made me feel unsatisfied with work. The alarm started to go off when, instead of looking forward to the work-week, I started looking forward to the weekends. It rang, when I sent out emails attempting to evoke change. Subconsciously I was sending a ‘feeler’ out, testing the water, and found it was tepid. As with every company I’ve worked with, finding when its ‘time’ isn’t as easy as waking up and ‘knowing’. It begins on an emotional level. You feel a nagging sense of discomfort. You have trouble sleeping. You find yourself doubting the influence of your work. The creative mind starts with a whisper and crescendos into a a scream for help, manifested in the form of depression. Deep down inside you realize that you’re not pushing yourself to your limits, and you hate yourself for it. Although the feeling is similar, there’s a difference between insecurity and self-doubt. Insecurity is the frustration one feels because they lack experience. Self-doubt comes from not knowing what it is that is holding you back from being who you were before -you have the experience and skill to do something, but you don’t have the direction nor the knowledge of where to go.
I previously criticized those mentors who I felt had ‘given up’ on doing great work, but now I realize that they just got tired. The older you get, the harder it is to keep up, and the easier it becomes to direct. That coupled with the monetary incentives has enough to let go. Why be masochistic about it, when you can be rich and comfortable?
Creation and innovation is hard work. Its emotionally-charged, and because of that, it’s unstable and exhausting to keep going. Unlike other things in life, the act of creation gets harder the older you become. Its easier for the young to find inspiration in life because they lack experience. They ‘see’ things that the older have become blind to. They have the energy to see things through. Their insecurity gives them this. It feeds the need to prove themselves to the world, and the end product is not only glorious, but exhilarating.
Going back to the older creators, I don’t want to give the impression of ‘jadedness’. For, even though some of us take that perspective, a lot of us want to continue to create. Whether its takes the form of enabling those who are inexperienced or taking the self-immolating path of pushing forward, is dependent upon the individual.
There’s a part of me which is feeling the exhaustion. Scales are forming cataracts over my ‘mental eyes’ and my path is harder to see. Its like being extremely tired and seeing a bed. It’d be so easy to fall upon it.
Simplicity
Originally posted on May 5th, 2010
What makes a web page successful? The fact is that, no matter how much space/technology, you have at your disposal. Nothing will sell if the experience isn’t simple, and this especially applies to the web.
A lot of what I’m about to write isn’t new, and goes without saying. However ‘going without saying’ is a part of the problem. Ironically, one of the huge barriers to attaining simplicity is our intellect. We know our product. Our product sells because it is so powerful, has so many uses, and does ‘everything’ when complementing suites. We know this and we want to sell our product based upon ‘what it can do’ for many users. Complicating matters, is the fact that we’re a huge public company which needs to ‘make its numbers’ and so there are a multitude of stakeholders (business units) pushing to promote the features of the products they’re responsible for. We know this. As users we also know what we want in an upgrade. We want to know the stability, fixes, new features of a new product. However as salespeople we’re so in trenched with balancing the desires of stakeholders who are not responsible for each others ‘numbers’. The scary thing is that, in being blind to other products, they’re doing their job. You can’t expect someone from the Flash team to know the InDesign team’s objectives, as much as Adobe needs to care about what Cisco’s objectives are. Sure communication between teams occur from time to time, but what that really comes down to is ‘what can your team do to help us meet our objectives’. Its not ignorance, just the natural consequences being a huge company. Acknowledging this is the first step in breaking the boundaries of complexity.
Referencing ‘Made to Stick’ by Chip and Dan Heath,
“Becoming an expert in something means that we become more and more fascinated by nuance and complexity. That’s when the Curse of Knowledge kicks in, and we start to forget what it’s like not to know what we know…”
Because we have the ability to capitulate on internal knowledge of our product, we overlook how effective ‘simplicity’ can be when we acknowledge that “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”