#33: Design Literacy for Everyone
We are all designers. This is a good thing.
From the cars we drive to the screens we consume media on, all signs point to the fact that software is eating the world. In the heart of it all is the spectacular marriage of design and technology. Great user experience is no longer just a nice-to-have. If companies want to thrive and rise above, this is a prime competitive advantage.
And it is almost impossible to achieve that without knowing a lot about humans and how they interact with technology. I think we can safely assume no matter which field of technology one goes into, UX is a good foundational skill to possess.
It is not just enough to know the technical, academic side of it which is HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) which comprises interaction design, user interface design, among many others. It is also imperative that an exceptional UX designer has a background in psychology, history, comp sci, art and traditional design, business and economics, writing, math.
UX and design, however, extends beyond the designer. I’m starting to suspect that it is a skill, a mindset, an understanding, that every human should have. In particular, humans who want to thrive in the foreseeable future… in any discipline.
Some descriptive thoughts about this:
What if we can live in a world where it’s entirely possible that children dream of becoming interaction designers of the future? (Not pixel pushers)
What if we can live in a world where it’s common to hear high school kids use design thinking as a means to solve problems?
What if we can live in a world where human-centered framework is the fuels that runs pretty much everything? Before anything else, we consider how a thing (product, service, laws and policies etc) can potentially harm humans and use that to ensure public safety and security. And to the best of our abilities, keep them from basically destroying the world.
What if we can live in a world where experience design literacy is as prevalent as its counterpart with math, science, art, english, music etc?
And that the future professions these kids will have is rooted in design.
Before they are surgeons, they are designers first. (In the context of aiming for the best, most efficient, ethical experiences in the field.. maybe with some help from ML/AI)
Before they are public servants and politicians, they are designers first. (Using and borrowing concepts from human-centered design as framework for solving society’s biggest problems)
Before they are founders, they are designers first. (Building businesses that bring a lot of value just by massively improving people’s lives)
I deeply believe in design literacy and how it could be one of the keys to transforming and envisioning a better world, a better society. We are not paying enough attention to it, at least not fast enough. More importantly, we haven’t fully unlocked its limitless potential to support the next generation of thinkers, creators, inventors and similar company.
These give me a lot of hope though:
Design thinking brings innovation to healthcare and medical education
5 examples of design thinking by the government of New Zealand. (They even have this document for the principles and applications. Pretty damn impressive)
It starts with education (formal or otherwise) with the idea that it just never ends. This is the magic of design. It is not just a field, it is a way of life.
Design makes me look forward to the future. We need more of those these days. Thoughtful, ethical, deeply driven by human needs for the present and future states of this beautiful planet. We are all designers, just not in the way you think.
Thank you for reading working title,
Nikki
An idea that was floating around in my head the other day, it is not at all complete nor finished. But I suspect it has some teeth so I’m going to keep digging on this.
Where are we headed towards? Are there patterns we can extract from history to give us some better understanding of the future? Or is this future completely independent of the frameworks that once ruled the past? Or a little bit of both… which makes it terribly harder to predict. Once again, I am looking at design as a lens. For it begins and ends there, metaphorically speaking.
If you liked this topic, you might like my post :
A little shoutout: I truly appreciate what Jared Spool and team are doing with UX Strategy evangelization. If you have the time, please check out their weekly seminars at this page. Best 60 minutes you can ever spend your time on.
As always, thank you for indulging me and my thoughts. I’d love your feedback. They always make my work better. Email me at: nikkiespartinez@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.