Why should we slow down our design process
I am writing this article as slowly as possible to understand the slowness of my own process.
When I moved from the city of Haarlem (the Netherlands) to the Spanish Pyrenees, my life slowed down tremendously. In the mountains, people live more in tune with their natural environment. It took time to get used to my new rhythm, and sometimes I still want to rush things. The slower pace also had a positive effect on my work.
An example:
"We have been working on an LCD process outline for a while. And I was about to release the life-centered design process in a blog a month ago. But it didn't feel good. I wanted to publish it to gain more traction on LinkedIn and our website. Going fast for the win, while it wasn't finished. So I put I back on the shelf to let it ripen."
Working fast
Nowadays, there are a lot of digital tools that help you work more efficiently, I use them too, but I am careful to use them sparingly, as efficiency might be good for productivity. Filling our day with efficiency kills creativity & innovation and is terrible for our planet. We need time to procrastinate and slow down the things we are doing. Why?
When we work too fast, we often opt for the quick & easy options in the short term. This leads to designs that could be better thought through. Rapid design processes with quick release dates might be cheaper in the short term but have a high risk of flaws appearing later. In the digital world, this is called design debt. I argue that this concept of design debt also works in the physical design world and is even harder to repair.
If your work fast, you miss important details in your designed outcomes. Having a brainstorm for an hour doesn't lead to more creative ideas. You can initiate ideation in an hour-long session, but you need to slow the ideation down by going on a walk, sleeping over it, talk with other people. Deliberately procrastinate. Procrastination encourages divergent thinking.
To fully commit to Life-Centered Design and find answers to today's climate & societal challenges, we need to have a slower holistic, explorative and divergent mindset. It is the out-of-the-gate convergent & linear thinking that got us in trouble.
From the book: How to be an explorer of the world by Keri Smith
What are the benefits of slowing your process down?
Allowing yourself to slow down your design work is fun because you will enable yourself to be more inspired, talk with various interesting people and get away from the computer. And make something with your hands again.
When you work slowly, you are more aware of all the elements & details that are important to the desired outcome. Slowing down your work creates more depth in your design work, which helps you make more considered decisions.
Working slower might feel uncomfortable because you have a deadline or your boss or clients looks over your shoulder. But going slowly now gets you further in the long run. The planet and society benefit from well-considered, slower-developed holistic pathways instead of hurried, cheap & quickly-sold solutions.
Find the right pace
This is not the battle between slow & fast, but it is about finding the right pace for you as a designer in relation to your work, the people you work with and the natural world. A designer needs to be able to use its head, hands and heart. As a remote company tucked away in the Spanish Pyrenees, we benefit from efficiency tools such as ZOOM, MURAL, Notion & Slack. Still, I get the best insights and ideas when I talk face-to-face with other people when hiking, biking, spending time in my hammock, or working with my hands in my shed. It seems aimless, but that is your subconscious making connections.
If you need to slow down, get our Life-Centered Design Guide to Slow Down & enjoy the exploration
Author: Jeroen Spoelstra
Images: Jeroen Spoelstra
LCD is needed now for the thriving future of our planet. Join us, and metamorphose into a Life-Centered Designer.
