You Have to Try

tightrope over canyon

Yoda’s point puts it in black and why: there is doing, there is not doing—there is no trying. Great for a movie but that freezes people up. Especially if the stakes feel really high and currently unachievable. You either DO the big scary but awesome thing or DO NOT DO the big scary but awesome thing: there is no try.

Thing is, in the real world, you have to try. And fail. Try. And maybe fail again. Try again. And likely fail again. All those failures teach you a lesson. The worst that can happen with trying is a failing. Repeat that enough times and you learn the lesson. If failure is the worst, then anything else is a win.

Like learning to walk. You fall on your rear enough times and realize that is the absolute worst thing that can happen. You will not implode. You will not wipe out humanity. But, when you get it, you can run or jump or hide or skip or flip. Heck, you can stand and forget that the whole time you are physically correcting things so that you can keep standing.

You will not get there if you are not willing to try.

So try.

A Time To Uproot and A Time to Build

I think it is a good idea to stop and see where we’re at. Sort of chill, look at everything around, see what has been done and see what needs to be done better. Smarter. Differently.

It means that your hands are close enough to reach down deep and pull up and outwards and removing completely. This is uncomfortable because it is hard work. But it is also uncomfortable because the work done before was also hard work. It just does not feel right to pull up something where you have invested time. Or energy. Or money.

You can avoid some pain if:

Build Something Awesome

You make it a point to build something that is so compelling that the initial uprooting groundwork always makes sense. Stop everything and pivot.

Build Something Future Proof

Build everything in light of the future which everyone knows is going to happen, no matter what.

Test and Build

Build tests that help you learn, and systematically uproot upon vetting.

Not any approach is right for every situation. Sometimes you have to uproot and sometimes you have to build towards the future. Most of the time, I think testing and building works but, sometimes, that’s just an excuse for an old model to stay old.

When Designers Get In the Way of Great Design

gray concrete building exterior with geometric design

I am a designer. I formulate a solution to a functional problem and decide what, I think, is the best way to depict that solution. Thing is, I always have multiple options for that problem. That means that, in practice, there are always multiple design solutions to any given problems.

The problem is when I think this one solution is definitively the only solution. With designers, that happens more than it should. That is why we are often not happy when the client takes our worst option.

Thing is, it is the nature of a problem to have multiple solutions. If there is a gap from here to there you can build a bridge between the gap or you can level both sides down so that there is no gap: both work. The best solution rears its head around objective, budget, and long-term strategy. Hopefully.

This is why templates and frameworks are helpful. They do not solve for everything but they solve for a lot. We designers hate them because they cause constraints but what they do well is structure strategy so that we can maximize the design possibilities. If you allow it, the template or framework is simply the page grid where multiple design solutions can play.

Designers, do not get in your own way. Use all available tools.