“Designers already live in the future. Through our work, we’re pulling the present up to us.” – Julian Bleecker
Peter Merholz noted in his Adaptive Path blog post that Julian said this quote when asked about the future and about design.
Category Archives: Quotes
It is our responsibility to to have an ironclad rationale to support our design decisions
“We have to arm ourselves with data, research, design patterns, and a clear understanding of our users and our content so our decisions are not made out of fear but out of real, actionable information. Although our clients may not have articulated reasons for why they want what they want, it is our responsibility to to have an ironclad rationale to support our design decisions.” – Debra Levin Gelman
This quote is from Debra’s article “The Very Narrow Bridge.”
Thanks to @aaroni268 for pointing to this article and quote!
We need to be collaborators and co-creators with the communities and individuals we are researching
“What has been and always will be true about Design Research is its consideration of people. The future lies not in ignoring needs, but in broadening our horizons. We need to think about more than just insights. We need to be collaborators and co-creators not only with the companies we are designing for, but also the communities and individuals we are researching.” – Tara Mullaney
Tara’s quote summarizes her reflections on IIT’s 2010 Design Research conference in this Core77 article.
(Thanks to Putting People First for linking to this article)
Stop pretending content is somebody else’s problem. It’s time to make content matter.
“Until we commit to treating content as a critical asset worthy of strategic planning and meaningful investment, we’ll continue to churn out worthless content in reaction to unmeasured requests… We’ll keep failing to publish useful, usable content that people actually care about. Stop pretending content is somebody else’s problem. Take up the torch for content strategy. Learn it. Practice it. Promote it. It’s time to make content matter.” – Kristina Halverson
Read more in Kristina’s UIE article “The Discipline of Content Strategy.”
Designers turn insights into innovation
“Designers are by nature more inquisitive, more connected. They dig a little deeper in terms of insights. They turn those insights into innovation. That connection to the consumer is absolutely critical in driving innovation. It’s critical that design isn’t subjugated to the back room as a short order cook for marketing or for merchandising or sales. It has to be up front.” – Mark Parker
Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, explains what it is like being CEO with a design background in his interview with Fast Company.
Change your frame of perspective and take the user’s interests to heart
“We think too much about what we are trying to achieve, about what we have designed or built, and thus in terms of what it does or should do. That leads us to think in terms of controlling outcomes, or tweaking features for new behaviors… Social is happening out there, and your users do not have you or your product in mind, but their own experiences and those they share them with. Change your frame.” – Adrian Chan
Read more in Adrian’s Johnny Holland article “11 Tips on How To Apply Social Interaction Design Thinking.”