Design and Future-proof Perfection Through Errors

An UX Angle to the Design of the Business

This is an introduction to a series of posts that will define a design-workflow that plugs into the user-centered design process, within agile or waterfall delivery frameworks, so that it hopefully helps future-proofing as much as possible technical architecture, solution design and homogenizing look and feel. It additionally helps (in a world of competing priorities) closing the chasm between creative and technical team-members.Whether you are in an organization that rigorously (or procedurally) cares about User Experience or not, you might leverage from using this “show and tell” design-centered approach. But before I start, I’ll give you some of the motivation behind the series:The title of the post boasts three maxims of today’s buzz-word business environments, where quick business-lingo overthrows thoughtful and strategic execution that facilitates delivery; or as Pixar's Ed Catmull would put it:

"Merely repeating ideas means nothing. [A] guiding principle, while simply stated and easily repeated, [doesn't] protect [you] from things going wrong. In fact, it [gives you] false assurance that things would be okay." [1]

So let's take a closer look to what all of this means, to bring some sense to where otherwise dogmatic corporate-behaviour seems to have eroded all purpose and meaning. So let's get started:

1. Future-proof. Failing to realise that (in the grander scheme of things) you cannot future-proof anything, makes you great at meetings (by using this buzzword) but bad at delivery and decision making. People that future-proof things for real, are those that are able to adapt to constant changes in the environment in which a solution is delivered (like organisms do in nature), and those are whole teams - not individuals, that are flexible with their ideas and the direction they follow, without ever compromising the reason d'être.

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Technology, Culture, Needs and History shape our design decisions today, and in the future. As cultural aspects, needs and technology refine our view of technology, in inconspicuous ways it might be easy to futureproof things for tomorrow, than to do it for a year.[/caption]

2. Perfection. Unachievable? Yes! especially in the work context where capital returns are proportionally indirect to time resources spend on it. Perfection in the work-place however, can be achieved by orchestrating teams by communicating efficiently and harmoniously (especially when it comes to understanding time and budget constraints) so that they deliver the best possible solution by honouring its purpose. So, if perfection can be achieved through orchestration, why stop chasing it?

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Exploration, Orchestration, Expectation, Frustration and Perfection are the zones into which a project is delivered to market or customer. Orchestration (making proper planning and wise use of resources) seems to me a more perfect way to deliver a project than perfection itself.[/caption]

3. Errors. Your company either culturally embraces error (which is unlikely) or not, but it needs to be talked about. You’ve probably heard of Edison’s 1000 attempts to build the light bulb - a cliché; but it is through iteration, endurance and especially, a good mindset, that Edison proved the world that getting things right the first-time wasn’t for the bright (pun intended). Design is an iterative process that feeds from trial an error whether you, your team, your boss and your client like it or not. By incorporating a framework that does not punish, but respectfully acknowledges, communicates and learns from errors or sub-optimal results, you and your team will achieve unprecedented domain knowledge and technical architecture, and solution design mastery.

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The constructive and destructive cycle of trial and error in the business. I presume that something comes out from the gap between "observe & learn" and "try something new". It's also a wise decision to know when to stop when things are just not going anywhere.[/caption]The process that will follow this post, will provide a more comprehensive look to what it is necessary to Design and Adapt to Constant Change, by Orchestrating Solutions with the Help of Efficient and Harmonious Communications and, Deliver the Best Possible Solutions by Honouring Purpose, Through a Framework That Does Not Punish, but Respectfully Acknowledges, Communicates and Learns from Errors or Sub-Optimal Results so that You and Your Team Achieve Unprecedented Domain Knowledge and Technical Architecture, and Solution Design Mastery, which in a way, might shine new light into the aforementioned concepts once we have stopped-and-thought what they actually mean for business.Of course the text above could easily replace the title for the series, if only it wasn’t so verbose and difficult to read.[1]. Catmull, Edwin E., and Amy Wallace. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. N.p.: Transworld, 2014. Print.This post has an introduction in LinkedIn's Pulse: Buzzword Culture.