Emotion in Design
Designers frequently get described as the people who make things pretty. It isn’t exactly flattering and it definitely doesn’t capture the full picture of what a designer does. It’s difficult not to bristle at the over-simplified description of our role. When our job is described this way we tend to translate it to “someone else does the thinking and the designer adds fluff,” implying that design doesn’t require any expertise. Designers know this is not the case, so we jump into spiels about complex problem solving, or give ourselves vague titles like Human Experience Guardian and Unique Experience Hacker (find more crazy job titles).
We do this because we’re fighting for a seat at the table. We want to know the requirements before we start designing. We want to go through a pitch or critique without hearing “make the logo bigger.” We want to fight for the user and to be heard when we do. We want to be considered experts in our field — as we are.
In the process of removing the word “pretty” from our job descriptions, we are discounting its value instead of using it to enhance the value of design as a whole. We need to be able to sit at the table while we make it pretty.
The Value of Pretty
We work with people with roles that are relatively quantifiable — developers, project…
