I am now using my powers for good.
Not claiming to be saving the world or anything, that’s just how I like to hypothesise what I do now. Perhaps that’s just my unashamedly nerdy side talking, or perhaps I’ve just watched too many silly superhero movies? Maybe I’m just over-romanticising the whole thing? But for me, coming from a place where I used design to sell things, transitioning into a world of human centred design where I’m using design to solve problems. It feels… nice.
This is my story of becoming a human centred designer.
So quick disclaimer before we begin, this will probably be filled with all the nauseating self indulgent nonsense you can imagine, all the miss-informed thoughts and opinions that I can possibly think of, and all the mistakes I made along the way. But it’s my story so if you’re still interested, then thanks! Hopefully there’s something here that might be relatable.
I have recently just completed an intensive ten week full time course studying User Experience Design, and I had a blast. It’s something that I had wanted to do for years, and it felt great to finally commit to taking the leap. And I was fortunate enough to share the experience with other designers who all shared the same drive and just the right amount of insanity to push me to be the best I can be, yet also make it not feel like work at all.
So although my human centred design journey may seemingly be just beginning, it actually all started years ago.
When I used my powers for… myself.
I was a designer. Why? Because that was a cool job to say you did when you’re chatting to someone at a party. I worked in advertising, and did the normal progression - junior to mid-weight to senior to art director.
My role as a designer was to essentially sell things, use every trick in the book to convince people they needed sh*t that they didn’t. Creating clever campaigns, eye-catching graphics, Photoshopping models to look even more glamourous. As long as it answered the client’s brief and looked good on the portfolio, it’s all good.
Now despite all this shade I’m throwing I’m not claiming the world of advertising is inherently bad; in fact if used the right way can really do some great positive things. I met and worked with some wonderful people along the way, many of who I still consider good friends. But this was about me, and my way of thinking. At the end of the day everything I did, whether directly or indirectly, was for me.
You could perhaps say I was a different person back then, but perhaps not. I was still human, but over time I had just forgotten what that meant.
That UX thing.
It was 2015, and digital was now the way everything was going. Until this point I was more a traditional print focused designer. I needed to up-skill. For the benefit of the agency I was working for, but more importantly for me!
It was here that I (almost reluctantly) enrolled in a part time evening course to learn UX design. To do UX things… whatever that is? You know, websites and apps and stuff. That’s what our clients want now right?
So that’s what I did, and I learned a lot. Research, analysis, personas, all that good stuff. This was the first time I was exposed to a way of designing things to actually solve problems rather than just make things sexy. I was intrigued.
Maybe not yet…
I was at a crossroads, having been exposed to this world of human centred design which I actually found a whole lot more fulfilling than what I was currently doing. But was I ready to make that leap, and go back to the start? Ready to go back to being a junior designer again?
Apparently not.
It was at this time the agency I worked for went through a great period of growth and picked up a whole lot of new clients. We had to expand, take on junior designers and other staff, and my role changed. All that great UX stuff that I had learned was no longer needed.
If anyone ever says they’ve lived their life with zero regrets they are either lying or just plain delusional. And this was mine. I had essentially went back to doing what I was doing before, but just getting paid more for it. And unfortunately, all that I had learnt about experience design, and the intrigue I had with it, was all pushed to the side.
But the seed was planted.
Learning to be human again.
It wasn’t all a loss though. In fact quite the opposite, as it was over the next few years where I learned (or should I say rediscovered) probably the most important thing you need to be a human centred designer; empathy.
With the growth of the agency I was thrust into a situation (again almost reluctantly) where I was responsible for the new junior staff. Up until now I had only been responsible for myself and what I did. But now I was responsible for others, and everything I did, especially the bad things, reflected on them. I needed to grow up.
And I won’t lie, I sucked at it. This was a burden, all of a sudden I had to deal with all these other people’s problems which weren’t my damn problems! But over time I got better at it, and actually started to like it. I was now having to observe, iterate and conduct myself with other people’s thoughts and feelings in mind. And it actually felt… kinda ok.
Since then those staff have all moved on to bigger and better things, and that brought me great satisfaction on a personal level. And I’m not saying that’s because of me, everything they’ve achieved since then is all them. I like to think that I maybe just gave them a little nudge in the right direction now and then if they were struggling.
But from all of this I had rediscovered something which I had forgotten, empathy.
Human centred designer.
That seed that was planted four years prior never actually went away, and had actually grown with the addition of this empathy stuff. It was time to give this UX thing another go. I left my job in advertising and enrolled in the full time UX Design course. And here I am, re-immersed in the human centred design world, ready to get back out there again.
And it feels… good.
So if you’ve made it this far, first of all well done I probably would’ve tapped out a few paragraphs ago; but this is my human centred design journey so far. And it’s still going, there’s still so much to learn, so many things that will happen in the future which will change and evolve.
Yet at the same time I hope I don’t forget the things that make this important moving forward in the ever changing world we live in:
I need to keep in mind we’re using design to solve problems, not just cover them up.
I need to keep asking questions. Why things are the way they are, and how can we make them better?
Most importantly, I need to not forget how to be empathetic again, as we’re designing for humans.
No matter what changes in the future if I can keep doing those things, I’ll be more than happy with that. If we can all do this then perhaps we can use design to do our little part in making this world a better place for everyone. The future is what we make it!
Until the zombie apocalypse that is, then all bets are off…
