Lesson #15: Being a good designer means understanding constraints.
—Beatriz Vizcaino, Class of 2011
This might seem obvious, but my vision as a student was quite different from the vision I have today after working two years in a design consultancy.
As designers we always start out with big, fun, and innovative ideas. We think this is the best solution to the specific problem presented. Then, when we reach the time to meet with the client and dev team, that great idea doesn’t sound as good anymore. Business requirements have to be met, strategic and development constraints are brought up. From that point on, the real design thinking starts to happen. The design process allows us to come up with solutions and strategies that allow us to work around those constraints, use the blue sky ideas as inspiration, and create products that are usable, enjoyable, and implementable.
When I understood that, I understood the real value of a designer in a company.
Beatriz Vizcaino is a Senior User Experience Designer at Moment, New York City, NY, USA.
This post is part of an ongoing series this month.
