Pick My Poison

What kind of designer do I want to be? This is a question I have been thinking a lot about especially with the push to find an internship for the summer. Last week’s Interaction Theory class was a helpful step in my pursuit to find a clear answer to this question. I was fascinated by the variety of areas of expertise with in the field of interaction design we discussed. It was really enlightening to hear how each of the three guest speakers, Brian Hoffer, Bjorn Hartmann, and Tristan Harris, have found their own spaces of success with in the same field. The conversation in class left me with a few thoughts I will keep in mind as I try to figure out what kind of interaction designer I want to be.

Here are the thoughts that are helping to clarify my pursuit to figure out where I fit in the field of interaction design. First thought is really a point made by each of the speakers, and that is figure out what I am passionate about and pursue it, and while I pursue my passions I should figure out how these interests contribute to my interaction design. My passion will help me reach people, understand people, and design for people. The second it is similar to the first, take the strengths I have developed through professional and life experience to figure out access those areas of strength while working in the interaction design field. It is okay to be not good at everything, but knowing my limits and enhancing my strengths is imperative to my design practice.

Keeping these thoughts in mind, my answer to the question poised at the beginning of this blog is, I would like to be a craft or trades person. I am a graphic designer, so the guest speaker I found most interesting was Brian because he called himself a craftsman. He had little technical computer programming ability, but he contributes to his clients’ projects through his beautiful aesthetic, his strong design technique and critical thinking. These skills have led him to be a master in the field, and someone for me to admire professionally. He also helped me realize that it is okay to not be a computer programmer because I can contribute in ways that a computer programmer cannot and if I do it well then I too can be a successful interaction designer. This is my answer for now but I am open to it shifting and evolving as I get to know the field better and I follow where my passions and strengths take me.

I am an extremely visional person and when I am given a project or an assignment it is very rare for me to not instantly see in my mind a graphic solution. As an undergrad student I spent long days and late nights struggling to create the exact design in my mind, but routinely failed and my designs lacked dimension. Through the years I have learned to take that picture in my mind and use it as a starting off point. I know that as I design I things will come together differently than the original plan and if I am willing to roll with those differences and make the changes I will create something better then the picture in my mind. Being objective and working loose is not something that comes naturally to me, but is a valuable tool.

My professional experience has taught me that the structure and constraints I like can be a hindrance because of this I realize that holistic thinking is probably the most difficult thing for me to do. Holistic thinking is a term used in this weeks reading, describing the concept of seeing the big picture. It is a tough thing to do. As a creative person I have learned the value of holistic thinking in many areas. It is important to not fall in love with your ideas and to be willing to abandon one idea and allow a project to evolve.

In business, this is more difficult for me because there are areas where I lack experience, and so it is important for me to become more confident in those areas. This awareness made me think about the concept of a "t-shaped person". The height of the "t" of a “t-shaped” person represents his/her technical knowledge or expertise and the width of the crossbar represents his/her cross-disciplinary abilities. As I become more “t-shaped” my ability to think more holistically will also increase.

What Do I Want to be When I Finally Grow Up?

The honest answer is a kid.

In all seriousness would I like to create my own business or innovate within an existing company?

When I read the assignment I instantly answered innovate with in an existing company. But, the real answer is never as simple as it seems. After thinking about it for a few days my answer has shifted slightly.

The real answer corresponds to the core factors that helped me decide to attend grad school. I applied to grad school because I wanted to be challenged intellectually and shift my career path in a more creative and fulfilling direction.

Grad school is definitely helping me fulfill those needs. It has also shown me that those goals will continue to motivate my career decisions long after my years at CCA, and will help me create a long and successful work life in the design world.

I would still prefer to bring innovation to someone else’s company, but if that does not seem to be practical at some point I will go out on my own and allow others to create innovation within my company, and together we will pursue my worthwhile and slightly lofty goals.

Two Heads are Better Than One or Three?

Two Is the Magic Number, was an interesting read not because it was completely new and earth shattering but because it is a good reminder that people need people. My mom and dad just celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary, and they honestly still enjoy each other's company. The things my dad is good at are very different from my mom's strength and through the years they have learned to depend on these differences to accomplish more together than either could separately. They are a team.

Something the article led me to think about is the effort and time it takes to create good collaborations. If you are familiar with the Seinfeld clip I have shared you will know that ultimately the partnership of Jerry and George teaming up to create one complete man had some pit falls and they decided to end the partnership, but if they had kept going maybe they would have found a flow. "But Lennon and McCartney were more like an oyster and a grain of sand. Their power together didn't derive simply from individual ingredients but from a dynamic of constant mutual influence. Indeed, even "influence" understates the case, as it suggests two distinct actors operating on each other. Lennon and McCartney did affect each other, change each other, goad, inspire, madden, and wound each other. But they also each contributed to something that went beyond either individual, a charged, mutual space of creation (Two of Us)." There are many unsung partnerships that managed to be successful, but those collaborations took time to form. I would also venture that some of those collaborations did not start off easy; learning how another person thinks, speaks and works can be complicated, and I find it tough to blend all of that with my own idiosyncrasies.

A few years ago I was fortunate to work with an amazing writer named Erika. At first I was hesitant to question her writing, she was the expert I was just the designer, but over time she and I learned that if we worked together on the copy and design then communication of our projects were much more cohesive. After a few months, several projects, and a few lunchtime shopping sprees and we developed a system that involved knowing each other's weaknesses and strengths. As we worked together a system or a dance formed and it was better than either of us alone not just because it was a combination of to people, but because it gave us space and distance from our work. I need healthy distance to view my work because it stops me from self indulgent design. Over time the system became kind of magical. We loved to work together because even with an unorganized boss, grueling deadlines and claustrophobic cubicles we learned to collaborate. Erika and I haven't officially worked together for a couple of years but we still find ways collaborate. When I am stuck on something I will shoot her an IM just to talk it out and at times she still edits my writing. I design a few finishing touches for her personal projects and contribute to her interior design blog. We are a team.

Get The Party Started

I am blogging about my design educational experience. But, I am promising that it will be more interesting than that sounds. I am committing myself to blogging in an engaging and humorous way that will still capture my thoughts about design and mostly the class assignments and discussions and maybe a few extras about things I am learning about or just stuff I like to nerd out on.

The End.