When I started teaching web design two decades ago, the problem we were trying to solve was: How do I build a website that does ________?
Our focus at that time – when the web was a relatively new medium – was primarily on how we build, and the conversations were largely around technologies (HTML, CSS, JS…) that we might use to build. If we could build a website that did ________, we were happy.
As our industry has evolved, with new technologies, tools and thinking, our thinking about how we build has been more or less addressed. We have a wealth of technologies and tools that we can rely on, so the question of how to build has receded.
Our focus now – as the web has matured – is primarily on why we build and our conversations are largely around people.
It’s no longer enough to build a website that does ________. Before we even build anything now, we’re asking: Do we even need a website?
Perhaps our research has shown us that what we really need is an app. Or maybe it’s revealed that Audience X prefer listening to podcasts and what we really need is some voice talent and a recording studio.
This is shifting how we work as designers, the kinds of questions we ask and the kind of strategies we embrace. This widening of the conversation about what design might be is one of the reasons I’m establishing The School of Design.
The designers of tomorrow need to understand design in the broadest sense of the word. They need to open their eyes to other disciplines that often aren’t taught in art schools: emotion, ethnography, economics….
It’s no longer enough to design something that ‘just works’, users expect that as a baseline. We need to focus on the role that delight plays in the equation.
If users encounter poor experiences with the products +/ services they build, they’re not shy about sharing their dissatisfaction. Our new baseline is delight, ideally maximum delight.
