Scott Berkun: 5 Dangerous Ideas for Designers
I don’t know if I’d seen this article (and talk) from Scott Berkun a decade ago and just missed it, or maybe I read it and it went over my head, but man oh man I wish someone had stapled these ideas to my front door back then. This reads like a graduate course that not enough design students are taking. I was nodding along so vigorously I closed my activity ring.
I say that because I’ve come to discover each one of these things on my own through trial and error (and probably by osmosis through some uncredited smarter people telling me these things in a way that I was too slow to internalize).
His list of 5 dangerous ideas are just perfect—make sure you read and internalize his article more than this short ramble.
Here are my thoughts, emphatic head nods, and tacky add-ons:
1. Everyone is a designer
I definitely used to roll my eyes at this one. Where Scott landed on “ambassador”, I landed on “enabler”—a designer has the unique position to enable everyone on the team to add their expertise, experience, skills, etc. to the solution. But only if the designer lets them. In my experience, that’s two-sided collaboration: bringing others into my process, and forcing myself into others’ processes. Kindly forcing, of course.
2. You have no power
This is the one I would optimistically add on to—or frame a little differently, at least.
I think one inherent way that designers do have power, and Mike Monteiro talked about this in his book Ruined By Design, is that designers are a vital (if not required) part of any process they are in. In product design specifically, someone playing the role of the designer is going to give it form—define the interactions, give the information importance and hierarchy, etc. These are decisions, and decisions are power. That doesn’t mean they are final decisions, and that’s a source of frustration in this conversation. But just like Mike won’t let designers abdicate responsibility for bad, evil products going out the door and into the world, you can’t say you don’t have power.
The second way designers have power is built off the first way: you can articulate things in a way that no one else can. You can make people see. Is there tension on the team about what’s most important? Are people talking in circles? Do you agree with a faction of the team—and want to enable them to make a better case for their solution? GO DESIGN IT. Put the idea into the room. Give it form. Ideas can claim squatter’s rights. In the bad version of brainstorming, the loudest voice wins, right? Well, you can use that to your advantage. You have skills that can give you a louder voice. You can use that to advocate for good things (and bad things). And that’s power! But you have to use the skills (i.e., your ability to give form to ideas) that enable that power, not just wait for others to tell you haw to use those skills.
3. The generalists are in charge
This is still mainly about power, just focused on the people who have it—and why. And I think accepting that is ok. The idea of a Jony Ive-like role is not reasonable for most organizations. Design is a capability that has to be embedded into the organization, not a top down model. That would probably not actually make most designers happier, right? I’ve confronted this and accepted it—and referencing number 1, I can design better products by enabling those generalists with power to make it better with me.
4. You are in sales
I’ve used this line so many times—and with no attribution! (Sorry Scott…) The way I’ve framed it for the designers I’ve coached and mentored is this: great work doesn’t speak for itself. You have to speak for it. And it also relates back to power. Or more specifically, how designers often feel the lack of power: that they don’t have the impact they want. Worst case scenario, the end product isn’t as good as it should be. Their design skills might get called into question, when in reality it might just be their sales skills. Which are actually design skills after all! You want impact? Advocate like hell for good ideas and solutions. (Doesn’t “advocate” sound better than “sell”? Ick.)
5. Creativity is a risk
I came to this from the “you need a point of view” angle. I got feedback that I needed to bring my expertise to the proverbial table earlier and often-er. And that’s risky. But this is where I’m often talking to designers about confidence. Having confidence is hard. It’s not a skill, per se, but it’s something you can work on. Confidence in your creativity and expertise is risky and vulnerable. But important.
