Dear (none)Designer,
Welcome back to the third Design at Scale™ Newsletter – where we take a look back into the past. It's not particularly important, but it's contextually relevant to the discussion I'll have later.
What I'm referring to is a relationship between design and development. For some, it's two functions that support each other; for others, it's a driving force of innovation, and for very few, it's a catalyst for scale.
The above understanding is based on how people enter the design field and how they develop themselves as designers. For example, someone with an artistic background, who values visual exploration, sees design primarily as a visual expression. Those who come from a more technical background will notice the wires everywhere and how things are constructed, let alone how we improve the structure of a bridge, building, or a book, let alone a web page. And finally, those who are very early in their career have an opportunity (more than ability) to understand it all in one or two projects. I mean business problem definition, proposition shaping, design exploration, testing and feedback. Not to mention the bug classification, prioritisation, planning, and self-organising team in action.
This way, you'll never be the same designer ever again, and whoever does not deliver the software (later applications) this way might be completely alien to you.
This will eventually cause two problems: one, being an outcast, as you will be required to deliver what is obvious, and two, being a messenger of bad news that has never been shared with anyone. Those less confident will reject you, and those more well-rounded will use you to further their agendas. There will be very few that will support and empower you.
At SGI, we are empowered to bring the best of ourselves, not as designers, but as human beings. Sure, work needs to be done, but we have plenty of room to improve the team and ourselves. Time for study, reading, training, and immediate application of our skills in day-to-day delivery processes –– for far, the saying is that practice makes perfect.
Since I left the SGI, I have been fortunate to apply my (you can say design) skills on seven out of ten occasions. Mainly supported by the people who find me rather beneficial to support me and join the ways of working rather than reject the Product Design Development Delivery.
Do explore GRID Magazine and dive into these stories of acceptance and rejection in the design world. The very stories that shaped the foundation of the Design at Scale™ Framework and this very new letter.
That's all for this edition! I hope these insights were useful and sparked new ideas for scaling your design propositions. Remember, the journey from concept to widespread impact is a shared one, and your experiences are invaluable. Keep experimenting, keep learning, and stay tuned for our next newsletter, featuring more strategies and success stories from our incredible community.
Happy scaling!
J+
