It is 2022, why are we still arguing the business value of design?
Have you ever tried so hard to articulate the reason why design matters to your colleagues? Have you ever felt desperate whenever someone on your team aggressively undermines the idea of design thinking because "it only works in theory"? The worst thing is, even you have a vague doubt of this approach as well?
The moment I wrote this down, I could recall my picture back in early 2020. Working as a UX designer in one of the market's finance giants, I walked into any design workshop in defense mode: I always made sure to be well equipped with lots of Post-its and Sharpies, running the workshop format in my head, hoping I could make my team feel engaged and encouraged to give out many ideas as possible. I did not expect much in return though. Hard as I tried, I often found myself gradually losing my patience along the way, unconsciously sighed a lot, secretly eye-rolled sometimes, and at the end, walked out with much disappointment. "Will it be much easier if I have done it all by myself? Should I?" - I wonder, from time to time.
Back then, I knew my disappointment came from my own expectation, that it was 2020, and Design Thinking was DEFINITELY a thing. It is no longer a matter of aesthetics or corporate images on the marketing campaign and email templates.“Today design is widely acknowledged as a C-suite concern and a key element of corporate strategy.” In my institution, this mindset of Design Thinking had been communicated at an organizational scale, breadth and depth, as one of the most focused initiatives in the same year.
Then why do people still unhesitantly show their doubt about that?
Design Thinking is not that new
It is a common misconception that Design Thinking is new. Design has been practiced for ages: monuments, bridges, automobiles, subway systems are all end-products of design processes. Throughout history, good designers have applied a human-centric creative process to build meaningful and effective solutions.
The sitting experience. 1956 Promotional Film of The Eames Lounge Chair Assembly.
I can roughly guess why many people make the same misunderstanding. I have enrolled in several courses and trainings in design thinking, rarely any of them did mention this side of history.
As we all know, Design Thinking has been engaged in "transforming" strategies by many enterprises, ones that switch from product-centric to user-centric approaches. However, in Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast & Slow", readers get to know the fact that in enterprises, many people perceive "re-organizations" and "restructuring" as losses, and since "losses loom larger than gains", they will be more active and determined to protect the enterprises' status quos. (3)
I quickly link these biases to the struggle of many large enterprises on endorsing Design Thinking. Though it remains an unvalidated assumption, people may refuse to change their mindset due to organizations evangelizing Design Thinking as a vague, abstract idea that at first doesn't offer credible outcomes.
A new hope
Digging deeper and deeper into the problem trying to find an answer, I found this Internet gold: Phil Gilbert, IBM General Manager of Design, shared about how he and his team at IBM had been changing the enterprise's culture at its core. (You can find the link to the speech at the end of this article.)
A. A focus on user outcomes
Phil started his speech convincing the audiences that hard as it may seem, it only takes 1 millisecond to change one's mindset.
If you have enrolled in the IBM Design Thinking course then you are familiar with this exercise. First, grab your Post-it and pen, and try to "Design a vase". Then, think about designing a better way for people to enjoy flowers in their homes.
This example gives participants a simple and clear definition of "experience". It points out the obvious difference between a product and an experience, which in the first place is unclear to many people. Focus on what is called "user experience" is the key point of design thinking, to avoid building another product that users don't want or need, the experience that differentiates your services in the marketplace.
B. Diverse empowered teams
In the early days of my career, I had heard this statement every now and then, that "A UX Designer is here in our team to represent the voice of users". At that time, it did sound true. However, this kind of thinking may de-leverage the power of a multi-disciplinary team that shares the same focus on user outcomes. It somehow reflects the waterfall mindset where designers spend most of the time in an isolated space focusing on their craftmanship.
Nevertheless, as designers and design thinking practitioners, we spend a lot of time communicating with our team members, each of them owns such different background and skill set. Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that our team shares the same definition and understanding of a subject or a problem and articulate their argument to people that may not have our point of view.
C. Restless reinvention
For designers who are reading this, I know you all once had that “I-am-fucking-done-with-this” moment when your PO told you to change your visual design because it looked off somehow, when your SA asked why didn’t you just simply copy your competitors’ design regarding the feasibility, or when the legal team insisted to throw the law jargon at users because to them it’s illegal not to do that. Well, slowly take a step back at the above-mentioned definition of experience. It takes only 1 millisecond to change one's mindset on experience design. However, it may take a little longer to actually show people how to act on that new change and turn them into believers.
The tech giants have proved it for us: The best way to change people's mindsets is to work constantly and prove the efficiency of the outcomes.
Lessons we learned along the way
I found myself in such kind of relief after watching Phil’s speech. Seems like constantly practicing design thinking and proving the outcomes to the team is not only my own challenge against UX immaturity but also the same challenge I share with many designers out there, even in Silicon Valley where they have several decades adjusting and testing the framework.
Of course, fostering a culture of makers and nurturing creativity is a huge challenge to any design leaders and executives in big organizations. Regardless, as a designer and design thinking practitioner, I keep reminding myself of those lessons that I have the opportunities to observe and learn from the best ones:
- For all of us designers, change management is job one. Changing mindsets, getting people to understand the value, are things that are built on true practices from the business world that we can leverage.
- Communication is key. You have to articulate your argument to people that may not share your point of view.
- Be patience. You can’t win people’s beliefs by telling them they are wrong and have a fixed mindset. Try to understand their point of view as well.
- Stop evangelizing design thinking as a vague idea. Prove the efficiency with the outcomes.
Thank you for reading.
Why Design Matters, Phil Gilbert, Design Forward 2017
October 26, 2017
Why are we still arguing for the business value of design?, Anne Quito for Quatz
October 23, 2018
Design Thinking 101, Nielsen Norman Group