“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.
Telegraph in the UK is reporting that Madonna used secret nightclub ‘focus groups’ to pick songs for her new album:
The tunes, with her distinctive vocals removed, were played in clubs from Liverpool to Ibiza throughout June. The reaction of the crowds were filmed and used by the 47-year-old mother of two to determine the final track listing for Confessions On A Dancefloor, her 10th studio album.
I wonder how many of her tracks cleared the floor.