FRONT - A Strategy, Design and Technology Studio

This article is based on my (short) talk at Refresh Belfast back in May 2010. I set out three broad approaches to design taken by web designers — user centred design, design thinking and expressive design — describing how these differ and why this matters. 
David Hughes talked about his practical experience on the role of design at Front. Since that talk, Don Norman and Bill Moggridge have debated the role of design and I thought it would be useful to share our thinking in this area too.

What do I mean by the role of design and why does this matter?  Speaking personally, I believe it’s important because, as someone working in a design studio, your view of the role of design influences everything you do.

My own personal experience

From time to time at Front, I get a ‘phone call, an email arrives or a design brief lands on my desk asking for help with a design challenge. 

Great.  I like to talk to companies about new problems, opportunities, and how we can help them.  It’s what makes my role more than just a job – seeing how design influences such a wide range of organisations, people and issues.  I’m privileged to work in such an interesting field and to lead a company that creates exciting and culturally relevant work.

However, sometimes these briefs cause my heart to sink.  I’m often asked if we can “skin” an existing site or application; that is, take something that’s’ functionally complete and “just make it look good”.  Well, as they say, you can’t polish a turd!  For me, it’s a disappointing and all too common view amongst firms – that design is somehow an afterthought, a way of polishing and presenting something.

It’s this type of question that’s led me to think about the role of design, and how it influences everything we do.  Despite the collective pride we undoubtedly have, how often do we as a design community discuss the role that design has to play?  And if we aren’t seen to really value design, how can we expect our clients to?

I see design as an intrinsic, essential part of creating exceptional products, services and experiences.  But we don’t all see design in the same way.  In fact, I believe that different ways of seeing design lead to fundamentally different types of work, different ways of working, and ultimately, different career paths for a designer.

User Centred Design

User centred design in the context of the web is best explained by Jesse James Garrett in his classic book, the Elements of User Experience.  He argues that design for the web is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. 

User experience on the web encompasses user needs, site objectives, content requirements, information architecture, the design of navigation and interface elements and even visual design.

The book sets out a series of ideas on user experience from website conception to completion and that range from the abstract to the complete and is a must-read (if you haven’t already).

Put simply, user centred design is about creating things for real people.  To do this well means applying a deep understanding of those people and their needs.  It requires an understanding of how to deliver content and functionality and implies that usability testing – checking that what you produce actually works for those people – is part and parcel of good design.

Design Thinking

Design thinking considers design to be more than just how people experience and interact with products or services.  Instead, design addresses a more strategic question: how can companies remain competitive through innovation.  It enables design to have a transformative impact on the firm – to literally re-frame and change what’s being done in a fundamental way:

“Thinking like a designer can transform the way you develop products, services, processes—and even strategy.”

(Tim Brown)

It argues that design is a principle source of sustainable competitive advantage; design enables firms to respond to changes in the marketplace by conceiving and giving form to ideas that better meet consumers needs and wants:

“a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity”.

Design thinking also depends on a thorough understanding of what people really want and need.  It requires empathy, integrative thinking, experimental and collaborative approaches from both the designer and managers.  Tim Brown argues that this requires a t-shaped designer, someone with a strong core discipline but emphathy for the supporting skills needed.

I’ve discussed how I see design as problem solving in the past but not everyone agrees that design thinking is a trait unique to designers (you should read Patsy’s excellent article on
design thinking for non-designers ) – and Bill Moggridge argues that design thinking is simply the application of a well-developed design process to new challenges and opportunities.

Expressive Design

Jenny Lam of Jackson Fish Market presented this idea brilliantly in her Web 2.0 talk earlier this year: that design is a path to creating a genuine identity and lasting emotional connection with your audience. 

Design should be expressive, communicating what your product does, how you use it, why people should care and above all, affecting how they feel when they use it.  You can literally see and feel the difference expressive design makes when you compare sites like Vimeo to YouTube, or Threadless to Zazzle.

[As an aside, the lovely chaps from @madebyoptic will be talking at Refresh Belfast on engagement through emotional design — how, as designers, we should be looking to engage users by appealing to their universal human needs.  They’ll be looking at real world examples and will discuss they have mapped design theory to their own practice.  I’ve registered and will hopefully see you there.]

My own personal experience

Our attitude to design influences every interaction we have – with a client, with “users” and with other stakeholders, and within our own team.  It is our view of the world that sets the tone, establishes “how things are done” and what is acceptable.

Its also clear to me that design is a people business.  For a studio like Front, we live and die by our ability to bring new creative talent to bear on projects.  That means a long-term, strategic emphasis on recruiting and developing the best people and the best ideas.

More than that though, if design is a people-oriented activity, then it challenges the myth of the lone designer – this gifted individual who is great at everything and does it all on their own.  Instead, I believe we achieve great work when working in multi-disciplinary teams, shining different lights onto each problem we examine, and expanding our creativity by working collaboratively.

I’m a designer - what does that mean at FRONT?

I asked David what it means to be a designer at Front:

“I play a key role in design here. But design at FRONT is way beyond just visual design. I’m as much interested in the design behind the design, than the aesthetic.

At a practical level this means getting involved in requirements gathering, design research, interaction design as well as visual design.

In short: we put a great deal of thought into design here because we want to get it right.”

Final thoughts

Perhaps my goal here is really to encourage more thinking about design: design should be valuable, deliver useful and rewarding products and experiences, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.  However, implicit in each of these views is a set of values that underpins the role of design.

I believe it is our role, as a design community, to bring those assumptions and ideas to the surface; to articulate our thinking; and most importantly, to challenge those around us by using design to raise the bar in everything we do.  Design is a reflective practice, and a critical examination of how firms approach design – and the contribution it makes – is a necessary and important part of being a designer.

For managers, I think this means using design to its full potential, a tool that adds real value.  For designers, it means continuing to articulate how design can contribute to the organisations that hire us.  For students, or those who want to work within design, it means giving real though to which of these views you’re most comfortable with and deciding what skills you really want to develop.

I hope that this is a small contribution to the debate on the role of design and would love to hear your thoughts.