Design Education

I am one of those people who have so many hobbies that I never really excel at any of them. I am a mediocre baker. I am a mediocre seamstress. I am a mediocre runner. I only get around to reading a "few" books per year. I put so much on my plate that I get to spend about 10 minutes on each project. Although I am in agreement with Don Norman's suggestion that design education must continually evolve and attempt to fill in gaps created by new technology and a changing society, I fear that what he envisions for design education would resemble my over commitment to every hobby imaginable. It is absolutely critical that design projects consider "the interlocking complexities of human and social behavior, [...] technology, and business" as Norman advocates but it is not realistic to expect designers to conduct extensive research or spend the majority of their education in these areas. A more feasible solution, "to stress the importance of collaboration with other non-design disciplines" recommended by a commenter on the article seems more realistic and a better way to preserve the talent that makes designers special. Even a gifted heart surgeon operates as part of team of professionals with varied skills and areas of expertise: nurses, anesthesiologist, and even business professionals. None could perform the daily tasks associated with the other’s position, but together they can produce results of incredible magnitude. I’m not trying to compare designers to doctors, but teams of professionals that are considered experts can accomplish so much more than a single individual trying to act as a jack-of-all-trades.

I tend to agree more with Andy Polaine’s perspective in his response titled Design Research and Education: A Failure of Imagination? Polaine essentially advocates for our profession to be structured more like the sciences where research, theory, and practice are closely intertwined – with special attention being given to processes and their application. “We have sold what we do as magic at the cost of hiding our thinking process and when we hide our process we can no longer articulate it, teach it or give it the value it deserves.” As I thought back on many of the industry projects I’ve done, I realized the unfortunate truth of this quote. With the exception of some general brainstorming, I really could not articulate a process that I follow to produce work. How many times in school did I (and other students) blame a lack of inspiration for poor results on a project? While I’m sure scientists receive jolts of inspiration, I doubt many of them push a project to the side because they’re not feeling inspired to conduct the research or experiments that are a part of it. As Pollaine points out, and as I’ve learned from this course, understanding process is everything if we are to prove our profession’s worth to the world. AIGA is making headway in this area by encouraging designers to construct and submit case studies.

Steven Heller drills down to a more focused level in his article concerning graphic design education. Begrudgingly, I have to agree with Heller that after four years of a liberal arts education focused on graphic design, I was less than confident to enter the field. Obviously I'm a believer in education as I am back in school for my 3rd degree. The downside to adding another year to America's college education or by stripping out foundations or liberal arts is still that disconnect between theories and processes taught in design school, and corporate culture that demands styling (and now!) and cares little about how one arrives at the final product. Design educators and design practitioners of all varieties should be collaborating about how best to bridge this gap. And as Polaine points out, we need designers speaking in the media about this and requesting funding, and even starting programs in primary and secondary schools to combat these issues.

Design Ethics

A search for "ethics" among newspaper and magazine articles or through any search engine will yield a mountain of results, ranging from "to-do" and "not-to-do" lists for ethical behavior, to an entire discourse related to every imaginable profession. With such a volume of material out there, it would stand to reason that ethics are not much of a debate anymore. Time and again we have seen the consequences of unethical behavior at a personal, corporate, and even national level. Case studies expound the virtues of ethical managers and CEOs. Our country has always been known for offering aid to the poor and those in need. So why do we still churn out articles every day discussing ethics? Why are the disappointing ethics of so many government officials, corporate officers, and even college coaches in the news day-in and day-out?


The word "ethics" is defined as:
1. a system of moral principles:
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:
3. a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group,profession, or individual (World English Dictionary).


Notice a few key words here: "particular" and "considered." Ethics vary from one "particular" person to the next, from one "particular" profession to the next, from one "particular" nation to the next, etc. These are also behaviors that are merely "considered" correct. There is no process for determining a group's ethics, voting on them, or even enforcing them in most situations. Ethics create enough gray area to cover the entire world in a fog, which is why we read about ethics so much and still have so many people that seem to be making unethical decisions. 


At the heart of every decision concerning one's ethics, is a trade-off. "Am I willing to sacrifice this for that?" That means that ethics are a very personal matter and are a result of one's upbringing, experiences, and decision-making processes. Knowing this, I was particularly drawn to Milton Glaser's 7th point in "This is what I have learned." How you live changes your brain. Every seemingly insignificant experience in our life affects our decision making, even if only on a subconscious level. Choosing whether or not to work with a certain client, which projects to pursue, how to charge for your services, and what you do during your spare time are all decisions reached with the help of your life experiences and the examples before you. All is not lost, however, just because ethics are a personal matter. In business, strong ethics must start at the top - with the company's leadership. Defining a policy (concerning ethics) in writing, make that policy available and visible to all employees, making all contituents (clients, contractors, etc) aware of that policy, and then determining rewards and consequences in relation to the policy will create a corporate culture that can help eliminate ethical dilemmas. Constituents will be aware of your firm's boundaries from day one, employees will be less tempted to consider unethical decisions but will be empowered to make the right choices for the company. If a dilemma does crop up for any employee, such a public stance on ethics within the company will encourage the employee to consult leadership rather than struggling alone with the decision.


Because design is a service profession and designers serve as intermediaries between clients and users, ethical dilemmas are incredibly multifaceted. Paul Nini's "In Search of Ethics in Graphic Design" makes a good case for ethical decision-making where the end audience is concerned. Nini believes that design's greatest ethical failure is not routinely including users in the design process. Much has changed since the article's publication date (2004), so I'm not sure that I can still say I entirely agree with Nini, but it is an issue that requires constant attention rather than a one-time fix. What was disappointing however, was the vague bulleted list in the article's conclusion that outlined a designer's responsibility. These bullets are something I have been taught from day one. And I can honestly say that I have never been confronted with a project or situation when any of these issues were even a question. 


Regardless of the facet of the design profession in which one experiences an ethical dilemma - be it in client relations or responsibility to the audience - designers young and old would be better served to carefully consider the three questions that business students learn:
1. Is it legal? (If the answer is no, then there should be no "dilemma".)
2. Is it balanced? (Who will be affected, and will one party benefit greatly while another suffers?)
3. How will it make me feel about myself? (Would you be ashamed to tell your mother about your decision, or post it to Facebook or Twitter?)

The Crowdsourcing Conundrum

I have always known that spec work was frowned upon by the design community, and I had a basic understanding of why that position made sense. I don't think, however, that I was completely sold on that position. And I'm a designer!

I realize that every designer working on spec sets the profession back a few steps in terms of achieving respect for our skills and the value of our contributions among other disciplines. I realize that clients requesting spec work are after that one precious deliverable and no more. And I realize that the fees paid for spec work are far lower than the value a "hired" designer could provide. Despite all of those realizations, I couldn't help but think that there might be that one spec project that could be my big break. Get my name out there. Send businesses running to my door asking for my help, thereby launching my own business profitably from the start. And it's this temptation that I imagine so many other young designers fall into and that keeps this issue a constant one. Five years out of school, money is not really an issue (meaning that I have a small roof over my head, I'm not in danger of starving, and even have a savings account), yet I still find myself tempted by spec work. I've never had a desire to be famous, in fact I'm fairly introverted. But I take great pride in my work and would like nothing more than to be respected for the work I do and the benefits I provide to my clients. (I know, I know...that statement is the antithesis of what spec work stands for.) But there's always that small voice saying, "What if...."

I also have to admit that I've been a bit naive about the fact that crowd sourcing is really just a new, superficial "look, we embrace participatory design" facade for spec work. Crowd sourcing just seemed like the newest trend of a generation that desires to be heard and to be involved in all the decision making. I remember voting with great fervor for the new blue m&m when I was in high school. I must have voted at least a dozen times to make sure that blue beat out the purple and the pink, and I felt justified when the new blue m&m was unveiled weeks later. Maybe that seems like a ridiculous example, but until reading Richard Grefe's What's The Harm in Crowdsourcing?, I hadn't consciously made the connection that companies (and federal agencies) have used our desire to participate to their advantage and have disguised their motives well behind this idea of crowd sourcing.

Perhaps this desire to participate stems from our culture's obsession with celebrity and all things "reality" (which, in reality, rarely even resembles reality). We're all waiting to be "discovered" for that thing we do well. Blogs, contests, reality shows - all ways that we put ourselves and our work out there for someone to notice, and I don't think that we'll see an end to those things anytime soon. So maybe there's no fix to this problem of spec work and crowd sourcing, but how can the design community continue to educate designers about the pitfalls of this type of work (the list is long aside from lack of respect... read this blog post for a more in-depth look)?

Perhaps it's because I've been reading an issue of Entrepreneur magazine that is dedicated to franchising, but as I pondered this issue of how to get newbie designers to resist the temptation of spec work, I had an idea for a business. (Keep in mind that this has less than a week of thought behind it, so don't judge too critically, just throwing an idea out for conversation) What if - like the thousands of small business incubators across the country - there were incubators dedicated solely to design. This incubator would provide a physical place to work (with utilities) and could function in so many different levels. First off, the incubator could "hire" young designers and function as it's own little company. Projects that larger design firms put out for freelancers could funnel through the incubator so that the design firm could be comfortable knowing that there would be plenty of legitimate designers eager to work, and that the structure of the incubator could provide security and an easy way to submit jobs, pay for freelance services, and even hire a full-time designer already familiar with their company if it came to that. On a second level, the incubator could work with organizations that are currently seeking designers for spec work to rethink their approach and use the incubator to get a higher quality product than they might from the masses, at a cost lower than what they would incur at an established agency with significant overhead. Lastly, the incubator could serve its more traditional purpose of helping budding entrepreneurs get their own design business off the ground. This opportunity to work on legitimate projects, earn at least a partial salary, network with fellow designers, and gain exposure to larger design firms may help reduce the need and/or temptation to work on crowd sourcing or speculative projects. Just an idea....

Transformation Design

If only business school case studies could have been as interesting to read as the UK Design Council's Red Paper: Transformation Design. I remember groggily flipping through page after page of marketing and management case studies that were so dry it's a wonder the pages themselves didn't crack. True, "Transformation Design" isn't technically a case study, but with a brief history and description of the process, illustrations of it's use, and a call to action for designers everywhere, it seems like the perfect tool for educating the industry.

Although I truly love the visual aspect of graphic design, I have to say that while reading this document I repeatedly thought, "This is the type of work I want to be doing!" Maybe it's a bit selfish to want to do work that matters, but the downside of labeling myself as a graphic designer is that I sometimes feel like a technician or a decorator instead of a thinker. I'm not sure how I would feel being a "transformation designer" and working at the opposite end of the spectrum where I may never be concerned with the visual. From the time I was about 16, I've never doubted that I wanted to be a designer, but what I've desired more than working in design is just to have an interesting job. It sounds as though one of the problems that designers have with transformation design is that it requires significant work with (and recognition of) the valuable contributions of non-designers. And the potential watering down of the term designer. This is where I have to ask "Really? Have we as a society already reverted back to segregation?" Wouldn't you rather have an interesting job, develop solutions that matter, and collaborate with folks who may have something new to teach you rather than focus on maintaining the integrity of your members-only design club? If I'm going to spend the next 40-odd years of my life working, I want it to be interesting, but I could care less what it's called. Ok, I will now dismount my soapbox.

There was a sentence buried deep in the middle of this article that caught my attention as one of the most significant differences of the transformation design process from the business world status quo. On page 18, the authors describe the three skills - looking, making things visible, and prototyping - that are core to a user-centered design approach. Within the explanation of "looking," the article states

These research methods do not aim to yield any quantitative or objective research 'truth', but rather to provide inspiration and actionable insights.

I seem to recall a great many business case studies that had a statement like "the survey results confirmed our suspicion that....", "the data supported our hypothesis that...", or something similar. Numbers can be bent. Details can be massaged to indicate whatever may be conducive at the time. Just listen to any political debate and this should become increasingly clear. Numbers do not necessarily equate fact or truth. After reading the statement above and then revisiting the four examples of the transformation design process at work in the real world, it was easy to see that the success in all four situations was partly thanks to the fact that nobody came to the table with preconceived solutions or ideas of what the solutions should look like.  This process of "looking" revealed areas ripe for innovation that market research reports would not have even touched.

Now my question is... how does one go about creating this type of transformation design consultancy? Due to its transdisciplinarity, networking with other respected professionals would play a major role, but what skills should I be working to acquire in order to organize and launch this type of business? How does one manage this type of business where there is no clear hierarchy or formula?

Design & Social Change

PERSONAL
Whether or not to accept pro bono design work has never been a question for me. Some designers, particularly those in urban areas, mahy have difficulty choosing which organizations are on the receiving end of their free design services with such a wide variety of nonprofits and charitable causes to choose from. The decision for me was an easy one growing up in a small town - Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church and other organizations that played a significant role in my upbringing. The handful of folks that attend the 175 year old church that sits at a crook in the road in Stumptown, West Virginia are a group of hard-working, generous, close-knit people that know me as well as my own family, but would respond with equal concern to the needs of a stranger. As soon as I had the opportunity to give back to these friends who had given so much to me, I eagerly embraced the task. This is only a small start in designing "...For Good", but if every designer found a cause or group pof people that they felt a deep connection to, we - as an industry - would be well on our way to "supporting those who want to make a difference" as AIGA calls for in Design For A Brighter Future.

INDUSTRIAL
In Brighter Future, Richard Grefe hints at the added bonus for the design industry as a result of Design For Good - an increased awareness of the balue-added benefits of design. Ideally, this discovery would pave the way for the ideas Richard Buchanan outlines in Design and Organizational Change. Truly understanding the difference that design can make will spur organizations to plan for design in their future endeavors, working it into both their timeline and budgets. By embracing design earlier and earlier in their process, businesses would essentially open the door for designers to be increasingly bold and to break out of the realm of the visual into a position to make changes inthe way a business operates. Buchanan writes, "Indeed, design could offer a new way to understand and practice managment, leading to more human-centered organizations." Nowhere is this understanding, and the practice of design attitude more needed than in our own United States government.

NATIONAL
Redesigning America's Future, which outlines 10 proposals for making better use of design in our federal government, was completely new cotent for me and something that I honestly hadn't even thought much about until this point. But what better example of the need for problem-solving with empathy and human-centered solutions than in the government? The document includes a fantastic quote from Jimmy Carter that is every bit as relevant today as when he spoke it, "Good design can help us meet our commitment to improve the efficiency of government... and reaffirm our concern for the human side of government." By beginning on the personal level - choosing a deserving cause to lend our services to, our industry will see a boost, that hopefully will lead to a spot for our contributions on the national stage. And just maybe, designers should think about working towards the pinnacle of using our talents for good... the U.S. presidency. Let's hope for a future election that places a true "designer" in the White House - regardless of age, race, gender, or party affiliation.

The Business of Design

Robert Fabricant's article from Fast Company on the aging of American design directly contrasts with the idea of designers as business people. When Fabricant lauded American designers for winning a major battle by recognizing and asserting our "strategic" position, I expected much discussion on the fact that designers were improving the culture and bottom line at small and major companies alike. Fabricant wrote "Designers don't just make things easier and simpler to use, we open up new opportunity spaces through a more creative approach to problem solving." Unfortunately, the rest of the article backpedaled into a discussion of purely formal (and usually visual) concerns with no mention of improved ROI, increased market shares, or even shifting corporate culture thanks to design contributions. Rather than encouraging companies to embrace design in all facets, Fabricant reduces designers contribution to merely visual and usability concerns. His attack on Google's black navigation bar, Windows Swiss design and Apple's bookshelf only alienate designers from other business professionals and even cause division among those within the profession as evidenced by the comments attached to this article. Obviously formal concerns such as these are important, but I feel they should be reserved for design-centered publications instead of a business publication such as Fast Company, where designers should be united in their push for inclusion in the "boardrooms" across the country.

I fear that Fabricant's article also runs the risk of making designers appear to lack the ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team. In Tim Brown's On Being T-Shaped, the IDEO executive uses his own personal experience as a consultant to demonstrate how designers must evolve in order to become integral to the overall success of a business. In addition to formal constraints, designers who are able to factor in business constraints like efficiency and politics position themselves as management consultants and can win over other disciplines by employing design thinking outside of typical "design" boundaries. Proving your individual worth in this way can be a great boost for the design profession as a whole in the eyes of business leaders.

One difficulty for designers can be getting that foot in the door in the first place. Perhaps not every designer is in a position like the one outlined above. This is where measuring and quantifying our work becomes so important. Determining how our contribution improves a company's bottom line lends designers bargaining power and a voice in the boardroom. Bill Breen and Thomas Lockwood outline a few ways to measure the impact of design in Fast Company and in Businessweek respectively. Some of their suggestions are easier to measure than others, but all are useful in showing that design is not merely an expense that must be swallowed, but an investment that directly and indirectly impacts the bottom line. I especially appreciated Breen's closing statement.

"We can no longer get by on being the wacky creatives who can't be held to any kind of standard. The sooner we get over this notion of having to 'speak the language of business' and just get on with it, the better off we'll all be."

Most of design history indicates that designers put out a product or poster and then move on to focus on the next client. Adding a new dimension to our workload and following that design and its impact is one way that we can cement our status as professionals. Of course those measurements will not always be easy. Even a purely visual design, a poster for example, has a job to do and we must measure that to determine effectiveness.

Application
Most of my career thus far has been spent as a freelance designer, or as the sole designer for an in-house operation. In either case, I feel that I haven't had the opportunity to prove my worth as Tim Brown advocates, and certainly haven't had access to the sacred, for-important-eyes-only financial information that may allow me to quantify my contribution. The solution to both problems is easy to pinpoint, but much more difficult to act on. I need to be bold. To ask for access to financial information and be able to intelligently explain why. I need to stop thinking of myself as merely a designer and start embodying the attitude that other MBAs and account managers have. I am a hard worker with good ideas (and processes!) that may just lead to a boost in a company's bottom line, whether through increased revenues or cost savings. Thanks to my education as a designer, I can solve a problem. I can work as part of a team. I can be adaptable and learn new skills quickly. I can be Super Designer if I believe it and then back that up with evidence. Even more, I can completely break out of the mold of designer and be Super Employee or Super Entrepreneur if I am willing to take risks and be bold.

Intellectual Property's Relationship to Creativity

The debate concerning IP protection's effect on creativity has always been one that I have difficulty forming an opinion on. Most likely that is because I have worked on few (ok, no) high stakes, high paying, highly secretive projects that would genuinely rely on IP protection. I've found that I usually have to experience the worst of a situation in order to form a solid opinion. Nevertheless, the question of whether IP protection fosters or inhibits creativity is a cross-discipline concern that will probably be further complicated as more companies and industries adopt team-based approaches to problem-solving, as talented individuals become more transient and jump from job-to-job or city-to-city, and even as corporations face greater criticism from a frustrated public demanding transparency in all facets.

One side of the debate posits that IP protection (patents, trademarks & copyrights) is necessary to encourage artists, scientists and inventors to work hard to innovate because they will enjoy credit (usually publicly) for the research, protection from those looking to copycat and make a quick buck, and - in many cases - compensation of some sort. Supporters of this side fear that a lack of IP protection could result in the type of "brain drain" typically linked to socialism, where talented professionals leave (or in this case are unmotivated to develop new ideas) due to fear that someone else will enjoy the fruits of their labor.

On the other end of the spectrum, the argument is that IP protection inhibits "perfect competition." Supporters of this side believe that being first to market (or first to patent/copyright/trademark) does not necessarily mean best. If other creators were allowed to compete, then the public would be better off and companies/inventors would strive harder to innovate. I have a hard time believing that this theory would actually work in the way that it sounds. Although I understand the logic behind it, it seems that it would lead to mayhem.

As in all situations, finding a balance between protection and competition seems key to advancing our society as a whole. Of all the readings, the comment that stood out to me more than any other, was Hugh Dubberly's response to a survey question of whether interface designs should be protected by patents. Dubberly indicated that he did not necessarily agree with granting interface design patents and questioned whether or not true innovation took place within the framework. (emphasis is mine)

"Even if it did [take place], limiting use seems to hurt the society as a whole. For example, the notion that Amazon "owns" one-button check out is absurd. Society is harmed by restricting that system to Amazon. [...] Clearly, Amazon did not expend large amounts of time or money to come up with the idea. Not patenting it would not reduce the efforts of others. What's more, granting patents has not resulted in a flurry of research. The result has simply been richer lawyers."

I'm not sure where the balance can be reached between protection and competition, but I think Dubberly's idea of considering the impact on society (NOT the company) should be at the core of intellectual property protection decisions.