Service Design Jobs’ Post

Essential Skills for service designers by Sarah Drummond 💡 By far the most common question I’ve been asked throughout my career is ‘What makes a good service designer?’ Whilst there’s no perfect ‘mold’ a service designer should fit, there are some consistent skills that I and most organizations I've worked with look for when recruiting service designers. No one person should be expected to be good at everything, but as Lou mentioned in their blog post on ‘What is a service designer?’ all service designers need to have a balance of skills that both allows them to design services, and create the conditions for that service design to happen. Here's the full article: https://lnkd.in/gscwaa9P 📌 #servicedesign #servicedesigner #careertips #Skills #SDJ

There is more to leveling up as a designer than just having more experience under your belt. It's a big part for sure - if you have more experience, the chances are better that you've encountered more unique situations, worked through more tough problems, and gained more knowledge. But if you spend those years of experience getting used to bad practices and patterns, that just means you have more experience... at doing the wrong thing. 🚫 Practice alone, doesn't make perfect. ✅ Perfect practice makes perfect. Videos like these from Nielsen Norman Group are helpful reminders for any up-and-coming designer to continuously examine their process and make sure they're really growing in the right ways.

It's hard out here for a designer! 😓🧑🏾💻 Facing endless revisions in your design project is a frustrating and demoralizing ordeal, testing your patience and creativity. Because nothing says job satisfaction like the sweet taste of never-ending edits, right? On a more serious note, endless revisions can lead to burnout, strained client relationships, and a sense of stagnation. The never-ending cycle of changes may cast doubt on the project's direction, leaving you questioning the initial vision. Here are some reasons for why this happens: 🚫 Unclear Brief 🚫 Stakeholder Misalignment 🚫 Communication Breakdown 🚫 Shifting Project Scope Here are some steps to get you back on track: ✅ Document Changes: Keep a detailed record of all revisions. ✅ Set Clear Expectations: Establish timelines and feedback expectations. ✅ Seek Feedback Early: Present initial concepts for early input. ✅ Educate Your Client: Help them understand the impact of changes. ✅ Manage Scope Creep: Clearly define and document the project scope. ✅ Collaborate with Team: Work closely with project managers and peers. ✅ Ask for Specific Feedback: Encourage precise feedback for clarity. ✅ Present Options: Showcase diverse design possibilities. ✅ Know When to Stop: Assert professional expertise for resolution. Design is an iterative process. You can learn from each revision and use that experience to improve your skills and work better with clients. Have you experienced this situation lately? What did you do to get your design project back on track? via Barney Abramson #designchallenges #graphicdesignerlife #clientrelationships #graphicdesigner #funnymemes

Inspired by some earlier content by Sarah T.! This will be part 1 of 2. Designers need different requirements than developers do, but it doesn't have to be difficult or mystifying. If you struggle to give your designers good requirements and/or point stories effectively, give this post a go! Let me know your thoughts. :)

I've been hearing and reading(!) a lot lately about how designers and developers everywhere don't want or like to read design system documentation. And I wonder: does not *wanting* to read mean that reading is unnecessary? Worse still, does it mean that *writing* is unnecessary, since no one wants to read what has been written? Are we trying to convince ourselves that by putting design decisions into code, design takes care of itself? Should designers/devs magically understand the complex constraints of brand identity, tech implementation, and how to compose a UI in context? Neither a three-bullet PowerPoint slide, a short video, nor a really well-coded component is going to do the hard work. The hard work of design is in the thinking. And that must be based on some kind of contextual knowledge. No tech is going to do that for you. (Note: these thoughts are my own, not my employer's).

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made over the years is assuming that clients don’t care about the development stages of an identity project. I always thought clients only really cared about the end product. For years, I just presented finished visuals and asked to feedback on what was presented as a “finished concept”. And for years and years, I’ve dealt with the battlefield of client feedback… “I don’t understand it?” 🤔 “I don’t like it?” 🙄 “What does it mean?” 😡 “It doesn’t look like I thought it would?” 😢 Head scratchingly frustrating when you create a design with lots of rationale and reason behind it; but wrongly assume that the client will understand your rationalisation as they gave you the brief originally… Recently, after a conversation with Nick Paton I refocused and got “laser focused” on what I do best. I changed some processes and introduced some templated systems to help me work smarter, not harder. And it’s working. I’ve started to properly present my ideas rather than purely a high res visual of a concept. I take the client on a journey where I map out a design step by step, plotting my thought processes, showing the visual exploration of a concept in sketch form and building a map that takes them from initial idea to a computer generated visual for them to consider. This new system has led to much faster turnaround times as clients properly understand the reason behind design choices and why certain things are the way they are. Turns out I was way off the mark for over a decade of designing identities for businesses. The design process is key to everything and showing it has opened my eyes to a new way of working. Here are some sneaky peaks of a project I’m currently working on with Simon Tregunna. The process is just as important as the end product!

It's hard out here for a designer! 😓🧑🏾💻 CREDIT-Barney Abramson Facing endless revisions in your design project is a frustrating and demoralizing ordeal, testing your patience and creativity. Because nothing says job satisfaction like the sweet taste of never-ending edits, right? On a more serious note, endless revisions can lead to burnout, strained client relationships, and a sense of stagnation. The never-ending cycle of changes may cast doubt on the project's direction, leaving you questioning the initial vision. Here are some reasons for why this happens: 🚫 Unclear Brief 🚫 Stakeholder Misalignment 🚫 Communication Breakdown 🚫 Shifting Project Scope Here are some steps to get you back on track: ✅ Document Changes: Keep a detailed record of all revisions. ✅ Set Clear Expectations: Establish timelines and feedback expectations. ✅ Seek Feedback Early: Present initial concepts for early input. ✅ Educate Your Client: Help them understand the impact of changes. ✅ Manage Scope Creep: Clearly define and document the project scope. ✅ Collaborate with Team: Work closely with project managers and peers. ✅ Ask for Specific Feedback: Encourage precise feedback for clarity. ✅ Present Options: Showcase diverse design possibilities. ✅ Know When to Stop: Assert professional expertise for resolution. Design is an iterative process. You can learn from each revision and use that experience to improve your skills and work better with clients. Have you experienced this situation lately? What did you do to get your design project back on track? hashtag #designchallenges hashtag #graphicdesignerlife hashtag #clientrelationships hashtag #graphicdesigner hashtag #funnymemes

I have been in the creative industries for over 25 years and have noticed two constants critical for designers and their clients. Firstly, a lot of designers complain about their clients. Secondly, I have encountered many excellent clients with whom my collaboration has been fruitful for their businesses, their clients, and my practice. EXPERIENCE Yes, in 25 years, I have experienced the frustration of multiple changes, but it has been widely rare. In general, this has happened with clients with whom I have been unable to decipher an effective communication process or with whom, from the beginning, I would have had to decline the offer. CLIENTS TO AVOID Are there bad clients to avoid? No. Different clients adapt to different work models. Some prefer quick results without much discussion; others are just the opposite. It’s up to the designer to adapt to these styles (or not). LISTEN, THEN ACT For the past decade, my agency has conducted thorough investigations, often beyond direct client involvement. We listen to the client, and then we turn to market research and our own experiences, and aim for excellence. Often, we present the finished project with no changes needed. WARNING⚠️ Do we seek excellence in design? Absolutely. A “good” design that is only aesthetically good can be a terrible work product for the business. Excellence requires both aesthetic and functional research, conducted humbly and with the aim of benefiting the company and end client. DON'T ASK HOW TO DO IT How do I almost always achieve great results on the first try? Not by understanding what the client thinks he/she/they wants but by understanding what the project needs. Many people ask their clients what colors they like and what they would like to see. We do not. It could result in something disastrous. Like a doctor, we determine the best course of action based on expertise. THEY DOESN'T KNOW “The client knows nothing about design” is false. Clients know a lot about design but not how to create it or what to consider in order to achieve a functional design product. They often recognize good work at first glance. Other times, the best designs are so conceptual they need time to be appreciated, in those cases research results help clients trust the work. SELF DEMANDING Achieving success requires more than just a good designer background; it requires a strong personal demand for excellence and understanding customer needs. RECIPE TO SUCCESS A happy life as a designer has nothing to do with the number of changes you make. But it has everything to do with the changes you can make before the delivery so that the client finds excellent work. #designerslife #recipestosuccess #design #badclients

This is what most of graphic designers go through in order to meet a client's needs.

A little design humor to kick off your Monday. But seriously, if this is happening it's up to you, the designer, to guide the process and set clear expectations from day one with your client so you don't end up in this situation. If you feel like it's starting to unravel, then hop on a call vs. email. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to talk through the issues and get back on track with a conversation.