We’re all designers
There’s a perception that to be labeled a designer means a turtleneck, a Mac and hipster coffee.
However that’s not true at all.
We are all designers. If you have a problem, and want to get to an outcome, you have to design something.
However, we don’t intentionally always apply design is the mindset.
Take the process of returning a customer’s phone call. The designer’s mindset would consider how I want that customer to feel, the outcome they want to achieve, and the constraints we have to operate in. The designer’s mindset picks up the phone and delivers a human-first experience.
Take the receptionist at the doctor. The designer’s mindset would have them not looking at their job as a task list, but rather as curating an experience for their customers. They treat the experience as if they will lose the customer unless they treat it carefully. They’d constantly challenge and think of ways to make the experience better.
Take the credit analyst at a major bank (I was one once). The designer’s mindset means they take into consideration who they are communicating with. Credit analysis is a complex area, yet do they distill and communicate in simple ways, with metaphors, with visuals. Do they think of their audience at all times and never of themselves?
Take the review board of a new project. The designer’s mindset wouldn’t make a 2 day project complete the same template as a 2 year project. They would make it as simple as possible for each project. They’d always be looking to make it simpler. They would treat the project manager as their customer. They’d think about the person.
This is the designer’s mindset. We are all given the opportunity to design every day, but we’re often guilty of being lazy, egotistic and impatient.
And here’s a secret. Designing is actually really fun, in fact, the most fun. We’re never finished, the only job is the journey, not the destination. Once you change your mindset to this, there’s no such thing as a bad meeting, a good meeting, a bad design, or a good design. There’s only data, things not to continue doing, or validation that we should continue progressing. It’s a process, it’s not personal. Design is a mindset. You can’t predict what will work and what won’t.
To get started do some googling… Type “applying Design Thinking to [insert your industry here]”.
