Romanticizing Design Thinking
Probably the biggest blocker for your professional growth
Designers are often romanticizing Design Thinking.
Many people become product designers because they love the idea of positively impacting people's lives.
IDEO spread many stories about how design can help us learn about people's problems, design creative solutions, and improve their lives.
So designers are often caught up with Design Thinking. They would accept the job and imagine all the ideal scenarios—doing research, talking to users, brainstorming creatively, and all cool stuff.
But that's a trap.
When a designer keeps looking for the perfect process, it can lead to frustration, disappointment, and stress. You probably heard complaints like "Our team didn't do any research," which can be frustrating because the designers attended a boot camp that stressed the importance of research.
This idealistic expectation of a perfect process is not helpful. It holds you back from dancing with the reality.
Dance with reality.
Accept that reality is messy and complicated. Working with others is complicated, and you work with people from different backgrounds. Naturally, some people don't believe that research is essential.
If you are in this situation, it's time to let go of those idealistic expectations. Embrace reality and dance with it. You'll be in a much better position to learn from it, and it's a critical step toward your personal and professional growth.
Budi
I fell into this trap. When I let go of ideal expectations, I can seek to understand others. Dance with the reality is more fun. Be careful with the design conference; they rarely discuss how to dance with reality.
Other posts in this series
