Separating the Design from the Designer
I do a lot of prototyping at Tangoe. The nature of software development and interaction design in a complex field like telecommunications necessitates that I go through multiple iterations of a UI before it becomes finalized. There are times when I’ll be 12 iterations in to a particular prototype and someone will come up and imply that something shouldn’t be a certain way. When I first started, my usual reaction was to go on the defensive immediately. I’d attempt to explain why said current design was great, etc. As I worked, I realized that there was (and is) value to be had in such things: something about a mock up I designed wasn’t meeting the expectations of my viewer!
When you’re a designer (of anything, not just graphics), you invest your time, effort, and passion in to creating something, all the while understanding that it will be met with a mixed response from your audience. Some folks will love it, some will hate, and others will be indifferent. There’s an important lesson all designers must learn: realize that the design is not the designer. When someone critiques a mock up, an image, etc. that you made, remember that it’s not a personal attack (or, conversely, explicit praise for you). The feedback they are presenting is about the design, not about you.
Nowadays, I make a conscious effort to separate myself from a design. To use the cliched analogy about uncovering an elephant in a block of marble, you’re just freeing the elephant from the marble. Try to see things from many points of view, rather than just your own. Some of the best changes in my mock ups have come from stepping back and trying to walk in someone else’s shoes, be it a coworker’s or a user’s. I ask myself “What are they expecting that my current work isn’t providing?”
Just remember, the next time you’re working on a project and someone critiques some of your work, try to see it from their point of view. You might learn something that makes your work a little better.