design is decision making

October 12, 2008

“The most common misperception is the word ‘design’. People think of primarily pretty pictures or forms. They don’t understand the depth to which design goes–not only in products, but in every aspect of our life. Whether it is the design of a program, a product or some form of communication, we are living in a world that’s totally designed. Somebody made a decision about everything. And it was a design decision.” – Sam Farber (via inspireUX)

It is easy for the moment to pass and no one even realizes that a decision has been made. As a manager, I make sure that everyone on the team knows it is part of their job to notice those moments and ask questions. For example, when an engineer sees a bug report that is really a feature, he or she needs to ask questions of the product manager and the design team: is this behavior change what we really want to do? and also ask themselves and the qa team: what are the consequences of this change? It’s so easy to design ourselves into a corner without even realizing that a design activity is taking place or to simply miss an opportunity for good design.

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