This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on why design is valuable:
Part 1: Why Design I: Design is in Demand
Part 2: Why Design II: Problem Solving in New Ways (this article)
Part 3 - Why Design III: Your Growth Potential + Leadership
Learning design can definitely impact how you’re perceived on the job—but maybe not in the way you think! As Dilbert creator Scott Adams says, design can make you seem smarter:
If you’re like me, you were born with no design skills whatsoever. I was amazed to learn, well into my adult years, that design is actually rules based… learn just a few design tricks and people will think you’re smarter without knowing exactly why.
But it’s clear to us at Designlab why learning design impacts how you’re perceived. It’s not just because design teaches you cool tricks, it’s because design teaches you to problem solve in new ways.
The Design Process
Remember how we talked about how big business is rapidly hiring new designers? It’s because they know that designers and the design process can add incredible value, beyond just visuals and mockups. Here are valuable skills that you learn from the process of design.
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Ideation: Learn to come up with new and creative concepts.
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Research: Understand the landscape of who will interact with your design.
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Prototyping: Make your ideas real using both high and low fidelity concepts to keep your momentum going.
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Testing: Quickly test your prototypes and understand what works and what doesn’t and how you can revise.
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Critique: Get feedback on your ideas and learn how to not take it personally when your ideas are criticized.
The design process is also fun! It’s a way of working that can quickly become more exciting and creative than how you’ve approached problems in the past.