Couple of weeks ago when I was reading the Luke Wroblewski’s Web Form Design, I came to know about Jack Moffett, and he just inspired me with his knowledge in Interaction Design (IxDA) and his passion, so withtout further ado, please welcome Jack Moffett on BonGeek’s Blog:
Mudassir (thats the BonGeek) invited me to be a guest on his blog. For those of you not familiar with DesignAday, I post every weekday on design-relevant topics. I’ve discussed service design, education, innovation, interaction design, product design, advertising, process, and examples of bad design found in my environment, as well as many other topics. When Mudassir first introduced himself, he informed me that he was just getting into the field of Interaction Design, and was looking for some advice. Following in that spirit, I decided it would be appropriate to write about why you should, or perhaps shouldn’t, be a designer.
To be a truly outstanding designer, you must be passionate about your work.
This was the advice I relayed to my students as they wrapped up their final semester. It is possible to be talented without passion. It is possible to be interested, or very knowledgeable about design. You can even be successful without passion. But every designer I’ve considered to be inspiring—and I’m not just referring to design celebrities—has been passionate about their profession.
Certainly, this isn’t unique to design. There are many professions I believe this applies to: teaching, medical and social professions, and political positions, to name a few. That doesn’t make it any less important to design.
Dan Boyarski, who recently stepped down as chair of the School of Design at CMU, immediately comes to mind when I think of passionate designers. Dan exudes passion—there is excitement in his manner and a twinkle in his eye. He has an intense curiosity about, well, everything. And his passion is infectious.
It’s a passion for design that drives me to continually strive to increase my knowledge, add to my skill set, improve the quality of my process, and refine my craft. It is passion that finds me spending much of my free time reading other designer’s blogs, industry publications, and the IxDA forum. It is passion that pulls me into volunteering to co-chair the local IxDA chapter, serve on the planning committee for the next conference, or participate in the organization’s initiatives. Passion has landed me in an adjunct faculty position teaching design. Passion often sees me writing for my blog at 1:00 am.
A passionate designer sets his own standard. A passionate designer produces good work, not because she is trying to meet her supervisor’s expectations, nor because she is looking for a bonus or praise, but because it is the way it should be done. When it comes down to soup and nuts, good design is about helping people—improving their experience in some way—and that is a mission worthy of passion.
Are you passionate about design? Perhaps you aren’t yet, if you are just starting out. In that case, look for the passion. If you don’t find it, perhaps you should think more about where your passions actually lie. When you do find it… well then, you’ll know what to do.
Jack Moffett of DesignAday