How to design better?
A collection of ideas on the design process and creating great designs
How to design better?
at an institution, you can’t just do what is best, you also have to build trust and coordinate with others so you are on the same page. This, however, doesn’t mean that you should abdicate your judgment and get in line.
I like the approach Sholto Douglas expressed in his interview with Dwarkesh Patel:
I like the approach Sholto Douglas expressed in his interview with Dwarkesh Patel:
If I’m trying to write some code and something... See more
Henrik Karlsson • 6 Lessons I Learned Working at an Art Gallery
Understanding why you undertake certain projects or tasks is just as important as knowing how. Whether it’s because you have to or because you want to, find the purpose in your work. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over my career is that I can find a worthy bet anywhere. It might not be obvious and I might have to dig for it, but... See more
Dan Mall • Dan Mall’s 10 Principles for a Worthy Design Career | Figma Blog
Rule #8: Keep asking why
If I believe in something, it means I know a certain amount about it. This gives me confidence to make decision, take action, do things that would have been harder to do before finding that belief. The belief that comes from finding purpose in what you’re doing.
One of the biggest hurdles to working is how boring it is, but there’s a lot of value in doing manual and mundane work. It’s rote, but embracing the mundane is more than just getting work done; it’s about being the solution rather than finding one.
Dan Mall • Dan Mall’s 10 Principles for a Worthy Design Career | Figma Blog
Rule #6: Embrace the mundane
“Good work” feels like a bunch of highly skilled, tasteful, diverse, and thoughtful people looking at an idea and saying, “I like that...I like that a lot”—and then being totally okay with it when the collective group comes up with an even better idea.
Matter
All this is to say is that for design, as for other fields, the road to greatness is often paved with obsession—an immoderate, unjustifiable surplus of care. Doing things that no-one asked for with a love that no-one could reasonably expect.
