Things I’ve noticed about excellent designers
Photo by Timon Klauser on Unsplash
What’s a great designer anyway? Does it mean they work at a fancy company? Does it mean they create a meaningful difference in the world? Is it because they’ve written a bestselling book on design?
Could be all or none of the above, it doesn’t matter. When you work with a great designer, you have a sense of it by the way they are. It’s the way they carry themselves, the way they think, the way they design. They’re all different in their approaches. They all have different strengths, different quirks.
I’ve worked with excellent UX and Product Designers. There’s a long list of skills they possess, and this list is by no means exhaustive. Here are a few common character traits I’ve noticed.
“The secret to being a great designer is to love designing” (Onur Cobanli)
They‘re interrogators
“Effective questioning brings insight, which fuels curiosity, which cultivates wisdom”
Designers recognise that the present reality is a changeable condition. Great designers regularly question things. If something doesn’t make sense, they’ll ask the question.
They avoid the straight line
“Walking in straight line one can not get very far”
The motto of explorers is “never take the straight line”. Exploration has something of the unknown about it. Explorers don’t know what they don’t know, as their aim is not to find but to understand. In my experience, great designers explore projects with an open mind not sure what they’ll find.
They’re ambiverts
“Ambiverts (people who possess qualities of both introversion and extraversion) tend to be more creative because of their greater adaptivity to situations”
Ambiverts are moderately comfortable with groups or social situations but also love time alone doing their own thing. Great designers need to work with groups to collaborate. They also love their creative side projects.
They’re great bullshit detectors
“Develop a built-in bullshit detector” (Ernest Hemingway)
When you’re working with a mixture of people, you need to be able to weed out the bullshit agendas other have. Great designers know the bullshitters, and they sidestep them.
They work in ‘cumulative change’
“Small changes eventually add up to huge results”
In accounting terms, cumulative change is the sum of all differences. Evolutionary change tends to be cumulative. Great designers grab things that annoy them and push for improvement. They’re great at zooming out and seeing the bigger picture, knowing that small changes lead to a significant shift.
They have a strong disbelief system than starting from a place of belief that you’ve created a good design solution, start from a position of curiosity and skepticism” (Simon Pan)Simon Pan passed on this on having read Marty Neumeier’s The 46 Rules of Genius, and it’s gold. In it, Marty states that ideology is toxic to learning and we need to put aside our preconceived ideas and question why we believe the things we do.
They like to be wrong
“Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.” (Paul Arden)
Great designers are not interested in their idea being the answer. They want the best result. Ego is out the window. The end goal is the best product for the person using it and for the business creating it.
They’re slightly obsessive
“Look at usual things with unusual eyes.” (Vico Magistretti”
I love working with people who are inspired and obsessive” (Nicole Kidman)
Designers get very focused on solving problems. I’ve noticed great ones get very passionate and slightly possessed by their projects. It troubles them when things aren’t right.
They’re collaborative loners
“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living” (Albert Einstein)
Great designers will happily work under a rock for periods of time. They’ll also come out to collaborate with the group to get the result they want.
The journey is everything
“Kill your darlings. Fall out of love with your ideas and fall in love with your process” (Chirryl-Lee Ryan)
The journey is everything. Trust the process. Working with a process gives designers a roadmap to get to the end goal. In a world that is not clear the process is key to design.
They’re great listeners and watchers
“To become a master communicator shut your mouth and listen first” (Rick Warren)
People have two ears, two eyes and one mouth. Great designers use them in that ratio. Most people listen to reply. Great designers listen with the intention to understand.
They give a shit
“The simple act of caring is heroic” (Edward Albert)
Great designers have an undercurrent of caring. They care about people, the ‘why’, their craft and authenticity.
“Contrary to popular belief, designers are not artists. We employ artistic methods to visualise thinking and process, but unlike artists, we work to solve a client’s problem, not present our own view of the world.” (Erik Spiekermann)
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