Love Everybody: A Design Principal Compendium

I have been a designer for over 10 years. Before I officially committed my education and my life to design, I went ahead and made the mistakes I thought were important to make. I wish I had made more.

I know we’ve all heard some version of this truth before:

Failure is the secret to success.

OK… I agree with that, but that’s just the outside layer of the principal. Failure is a self-involved thing — mostly. We look at failure and think about a picture of ourselves screwing up and then learning the ultimate lesson and being triumphant.

So, is that really it?! Is that the key???

The thing about success is that it isn’t about the failure. It is about the failed. The failed measure the value of the failure at hand. When we fail as parents, advisors, athletes, teachers, accountants, consultants, designers, etc. it is not our act of failure that pushes us forward. It is the impact of our failure and how it affects others.

What good is a lesson if there is no system by which to measure it? When I became an Industrial Designer, I did it to make things that I thought were cool. That’s the honest truth. Over time, I made some good mistakes (I think all mistakes are good if they are used). I met some great people. I let some people down and disappointed them. My failures gave me insight to something I was not seeing up to that point and that thing is empathy. Without empathy solutions become esoteric and disconnected. We see this when looking at our politicians noting their heightened social stature and their disconnect with society.

Designers follow a few principals when they create a thing. The principals are intended to feign empathy. I just read an article today wherein the author attempted (quite effectively in my opinion) to summarize the qualities of good design. I think these apply to problem solving in general. Here are a few that I re-worded to broaden the scope from design to all solution making:

• Does the solution solve a problem?

• Who is the effected party?

• Is the solution lasting in its appearance or detail?

• Is the solution accessible?

This is the article to which I am referring. I was forgiving of the minimal grammar and spelling mistakes and I urge you to be as well. It's a good read.

I have learned a lot from being a designer. I have learned how to be a good listener, that short-cuts are for cheaters, that the right thing will always be the hard thing, that less is more, that planning too much leaves no room for compromise, that humility allows room for growth, to never take yourself too seriously and countless other lessons. I have come a long way since my career was young. I have learned to love the end user and I think of them often. As a person, it’s allowed me to be more connected and whole.

Has your career given back to you in this way? I feel that acknowledging what mine has done for me allows me to feel a deep gratitude and also a bit more love for myself.