Mark Forscher

Whitney Hess wrote a fantastic article “No One Nos: Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas” for A List Apart. It’s full of invaluable communication techniques and real-world examples of how others have effectively pushed back on bad ideas. For anyone who struggles with difficult clients or stakeholders, this is a must read.

An excerpt:

As a user experience designer, I have made a career out of having to say No. It is my job to put an end to bad design practices within an organization before I can make any progress on improving the lives of our customers. And it’s rarely easy…

Each one of us brings an area of specialization to our projects, and it is our responsibility to exhibit that expertise. If you don’t know anything that no one else on your team knows, then it’s probably time to walk away. But if you do, it is your duty to assert that capability and share your knowledge for the betterment of the final product.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “A ‘no’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” As people who create stuff with the hope that other people will use it, it is outright cowardly for us to protect ourselves before defending the needs of our users.

Read the full article.

Business is all about solving problems for our customers and for our organizations. So whenever an idea pops up that seems to solve a problem, we automatically shut down our critical thinking processes and accept it as the solution. We might take the time to debate how the idea needs to be implemented. But once an idea gets accepted as the solution, we become blind to anything else that might solve the problem in a different, more effective or efficient way.

Unfortunately, good ideas are not necessarily the best ones. To do what’s best for our organizations, we need to open our minds and consider all possible options, not just the first one that looks good. We need to consider that there may be multiple solutions to the same problem and focus on advantages and disadvantages of each or even if more than one solution is called for to meet the needs of differing stakeholders.

How do we stop jumping to solutions?
Start by encouraging divergent points of view during discussion of the problem. If people aren’t offering them, make a point to ask for them. For example, “We all seem to be locked into this one track. Does anyone have a different point of view?” “What if we had to come up with three solutions, what would they be?”

Make it a policy not to automatically accept the first good idea that comes along. Write it down on a flip chart and say, “That sounds good. Before we get into that, let’s see what else we can come up with.”

—Holy Green, “Stop Jumping to Solutions”

“I think if you’re starting out early in the process by talking about your ideas for solutions, you’re already not listening. I think you need to enter into any design project with that zen learner’s mind of ‘I don’t know what I don’t know.’” – Kim Goodwin

For more inspiring quotes from experience designers, check out inspireux.com.

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” —Charles Mingus

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like… People think it’s this veneer—that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” -Steve Jobs, 2003 in the New York Times. [via flowing data]

1. Do one thing at a time
2. Know the problem
3. Learn to listen
4. Learn to ask questions
5. Distinguish sense from nonsense
6. Accept change as inevitable
7. Admit mistakes
8. Say it simple
9. Be calm
10. Smile

“How to work better” by Hans Gremmen.

I recently discovered Behance Magazine and their “insights and tips from creatives on making ideas happen.” In an article on promoting productive creativity by reconsidering the workspace, Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Scott Belsky highlight an important requirement for collaborative creative spaces:

While open-plan architecture may facilitate raw creativity, this kind of environment does not necessarily foster the focus and accountability required to push ideas forward. A workspace should be used NOT just to generate ideas, but also to make ideas happen.

I couldn’t agree more and I found their tips to foster a productive collaborative space insightful, particularly the importance of limiting impromptu check-ins and scheduling times for review and discussion.

From my experience, scheduling internal regular reviews enables designers to better prepare and present their ideas. It is a good way to make sure people with busy schedules and multiple projects are there to participate, so everyone who needs to be is included in the process.