You Can't Prove Good Design

How can you prove a design will be successful?

Short answer - you can’t.

Throughout my career as a designer, I have often had to ‘prove’ why my design will work.

Often being shown examples of things that worked in the past, usually product I had designed myself.

What I was actually being asked is, ‘point to where this already exists and makes lots of money’.

Michael Fisher commented on my post on taste last week that he had to remove take his taste out of conversations about product selection, when it was his precisely his taste that meant he was good at his job.

When Vivienne Westwood used her taste, understanding cultural signals and turning it into an iconic fashion house, could she point to another big brand who was doing the same thing?

Diesel’s turnaround in the last four years has hinged on throwing out the commodity line that was stagnating the brand and instead asking ‘what do people want to feel?’ when they wear the brand.

Brian Collins said ‘the opposite of courage is conformity’, so the proof being asked of designers by business often leads to conformity, to the watering down of creative instincts. 

Business leaders - stop asking designers to ‘prove’ that what they have done will be an instant winner, and ask:

Why will this connect to our consumers in the future? 

How does it cut through the noise of what they are already seeing?

Why do they FEEL that this will be successful?

Designers - don’t shy away from your instincts and your feelings. Learn to point to these as a reason for success. Interrogate your taste and understand where your gut instincts are coming from, and don’t be afraid to point these out in a room.