Metamorphosis

This is a response to this blog post.

On the whole i think I am on my way between Transitional and Designerly thinking. Of course, I am sure there are pieces of me that touch on pre-emergence. I scored myself on all of the categories. You can see a visualization of it here:

From Drop Box

I see a trend of being more competent at getting past the earlier barriers than the ones later in the list. There is a smattering of lower scores here and there which I think generally speaks to the path that I have taken so far – being in a professional setting rather than an academic setting.

Here are some of my insights for particular barriers:

Best solution and Algorithm / design paradox
I have been challenged with many problems throughout the years, and I have no doubt that for all of them there were many possible solutions. I don’t think there is some perfect answer (although initial mathematics training might have taught me differently). I have seen my proposed solutions come to fruition. Some of them are great, others are still causing problems. Sometimes it seems like the problem might be too hard to solve without radical changes to an industry that is not as pliable as we would like. I would probably rate myself highest on these concepts, just from experiencing messy problems over and over again.

Critique culture , Idea loyalty, Me and We
This is something I have more recently (past few years) become familiar with. In the beginning of 2009 I was placed into a new role. It was then that I actually started thinking of myself as a designer. I did design before that, but it wasn’t the focus of what I was doing, it was just sort of a necessary evil. It was in 2009 that I changed my lens. Thinking of things from a design perspective can be much more emotional than from a technical or management focus. It is over these few years I have learned so much more about letting go of your creation. Designs are made SOOOO much better when many people can give input. And, critiquing a design is not critiquing you as a person. I also have grown in that I understand what my strengths and weaknesses are. I think I am better at letting go of a design when it gets to a certain point so I can let someone else take it to the next level. Also, I think if you are making good design decisions, you have a good rationale for specific things that you put into your design, so you know what to make a case for and what to let go. I have lots of experience in the professional world being part of a team that is trying to reach a goal as well as leading the team in some way.

Technology vs Human Centered, User Research and IT Domination

My current position is at a very technology centered/ IT Domination company – at least the engineering team I am on is this way. There is sort of an internal schism between the brains and the feelings. And we have been somewhat successful with all of this. We hire good service members to make sure our customers are happy (or at least they think they are happy) and we higher big brains to make systems that will surely impress the customers with their whiz and bang. I suppose I have always been a sort of communicator between the two groups. I don’t write code. I can listen to people and help to identify their pain. I can make things happen and talk to the other brains to translate pain to product. I am pretty good at this, and it has helped me to moderately successful. Still, I would say that I am only as good as the sphere that I am in. We are trying to change trying to make our products designed from the beginning rather than built on top of a complex system – but changing an institution and how it thinks is a task that requires time and effort. We will get there. So I say that regardless of how I view the world and design, I still have much to learn on influencing that world.

Role, Research and Philosophy, Reflective Designer, Omnipresence and External/Internal

I think these are the areas I need to focus on the most. Its funny though, I feel as though these are ideas not just about design but about how you live. Design is a part of how I live my life. I can be a reflective living being, or I can just go day by day and not really think about what I am doing. Being reflective means searching for information to improve yourself or what you are doing, but the end design will come from you. I sort of feel that is how my life is. I research different things – recipes, books, new music, methods of parenting, communication, time management, and try to incorporate that into the design of Beth. In the end, whatever Beth is, is what she is, and some of those things might stick. The food might not taste quite like I expected from the recipe – but it is still good. I don’t know if I make much sense, but that is what I get when I ponder these last things. I am still a design in progress.