Design Consulting is a choice and here are my reasons for my choice.
I love pixels and systems. As a consultant, I can be more hands-on and attend fewer meetings than a typical design director :) Even today I work on wireframes and screen details only because I love it. I have had mixed expressions from senior clients asking me, you are over qualified for making those graphs and screens, why do you do it? My answer is a smile.
I love problems.I need variety in my problems. Problems in different domains, cultures, and sectors. I can deep dive into any problem statement and remain there as long as it is needed as that is my core job as a designer -- Stay in the problem space longer. I realised that all problems are bottomless pits and there is no end to it like how all subject matter is. While I can handle depth seamlessly, I needed breadth. I wanted to have different problem statements, different context, different teams and that makes me have empathy for everything around me. Before being a designer, it is important to be more human. Consulting gives the opportunity to be more human and gives more variety. All said and done, Variety is the spice of life and work too :)
To me time is LIFE. I don't want to waste it on things that do not make me a better person. To do that choice making is important. With work, I choose my projects, clients, geography, work spaces (including Starbucks), billing, emotions around me, relationships, whom to work with and whom NOT to etc.
The reason I want to share the above is, choices add meaning to your life. It is good to quit. It is great to say NO. I see many fellow human beings afraid of the word "quitting" and choice making.Whether we like it or not, we make choices every single day and a number of them. All choices have consequences (good, bad and ugly). Even if you want to close your eyes and ears and do not want to engage with it, it happens.
If that is the case, why not make conscious choices and live a meaningful life? If not with everything why not make a career of your choice. You spend about one-third of your life at work. For some, it is more than half. Why not choose your work and how you spend your time in a day? I understand it is easier said than done.The reason i am stressing about choice of work is: I get to travel places and work with different organisations (big and small) and different teams. More and more I am seeing unhappiness around in work places. There is a fake sense of fun around. Parties, clubs, dinners, drinks, team outings and off sites (paid by companies). I am not against all the fun but is that 3 hours in 3 months with your team really taking away all the stress and frustration at work? May be the alcohol numbs it for 3 hours but it will surface again the next day morning, isn't it?
The next day, contradicting reality continues:
We don't have the budget for research but we need compelling data to show how the design decision was made.
I don't like what I see, why don't you go back and show me more options that I like. By the by, the design is on a critical path for this release.
Everything is possible with technology but just for this release, the following cannot be done (which is typically most of the goodness of design). Can you tweak the design so that it is possible to code and let us review by EOD?
There is a great deal of inconsistency between the document you sent last year this time and now, which one should I follow :) (do I even need to answer that).
We need to see some refreshing designs. This is the same old buttons and menus. But maintain consistency :)
No wonder, the joy of designing is killed. To stay above all the realities and still enjoy design and produce meaningful products to our end users, design as a profession has to be a CHOICE. At least you will suffer less in this job. The consequence of being a designer is to listen to everything that comes our way and still do the right things for the end user. Argue tooth and nail with the senior leader on why that button size must be bigger or smaller.
Without having strong fundamentals it is hard to argue with reasoning and on the other hand, you cannot argue a moot. Pick you battles. Pick your managers. Pick your companies. Everything is a choice. Choice making is a science and not art.
The life of a designer is all about being in the present moment, connecting the dots of the past and working towards the future and all that for a smile from the end user. This rambling is dedicated to all my fellow designers who stay strong every day with the low ux maturity around you.
Go make awesome designs and put that smile on your end user. Everything else in between is just a test for your end user love. "Design" is a fairy tale and every devil/deep sea is an opportunity to make you better. Don't fall a prey to UX maturity around you and don't let design down.
