What is design, exactly?

Design is making things pretty.

Right?

Design is deciding what to do

and how to do it.

Design is deciding.

Not making arbitrary choices,

or holding opinions, but making thoughtful, intentional decisions.

Design is all the work that goes into deciding

• Preparation

• Communication

• Deliberation

Preparing to make thoughtful decisions:

• researching the context and history of a problem

• studying existing solutions to a problem

• brainstorming new ways of seeing a problem

• exploring many possible solutions

Communicating decisions to others:

• drawing diagrams of problems and solutions

• creating mock-ups, wireframes, and prototypes

• explaining and having conversations

Deliberating with others to get consensus:

• An inspired idea is useless until it’s put into play

• A designer must get stakeholders to agree on what to do and who to do it

Some designers do make things pretty.

They make decisions about the use of color,

form, texture, imagery, typography,

and messagingbased on intuition,

research, and experience.

Those decisions make meaning

and priority clear.

They evoke associations

and emotions.

But designers make thoughtful decisions

about other things too.

Like how a tool should work

or how to make a complex system easy

to understand.

Developers make thoughtful decisions

too.

We select among libraries or roll our own.

We architect projects so they’re easy to

maintain.

We consider the name of each object so our

code documents its purpose.

We all design every time we make a thoughtful

choice.

So don’t ask a designer to make your app pretty.

Ask a designer to help make the purpose of

your app clear.

Ask a designer to help make your users feel

what you feel when you think about your app.

Ask a designer to help you articulate and test

your assumptions.

Ask a designer for their perspective.

And always be a designer.

Be thoughtful about what to do and how to do it.

@seandurham