I’m a product guy. Or a code guy. Perhaps a marketing guy. At least I think I am some of those things. What’s important for the purposes of this post however is what I know I am not: a design guy.
I haven’t seen many design guys in my professional experience (dating all the way back to 2004!). I have seen the inside of a fair number of consumer internet start-ups, and the highest number of design guys I have seen in any of those companies has been a whopping 1. Until Viewzi.
If you have used Viewzi search, or even looked at the front page, or if you have ever been to the office, then it ought to be apparent to you that Viewzi has a hefty design-guy presence in its workforce. Of the roughly 50% of the company who aren’t design-guys (like me), we better have a good appreciation for design.
So what is design exactly?
I have no intention of answering that question in this post. All I know is that I love being in a company full of either legendary designers, or people who respect the zen-like approach of legendary designers.
I have a creative side to me (I play guitar, I write love poems, I won a contest drawing ALF in 2nd grade), so I understand the chaos, the distractions, the disorganization that goes into the creative process. Every once in a while, I reread a great book called Zen Guitar by Toshio Sudo which teaches guitarists, who are notorious for horrible work habits (tardiness, ego, bankruptcy), how to achieve greater heights in their craft.
Much of the knowledge of the book is focused on the non-creative aspects of guitar playing and it is applicable to other aspects of life. I wholeheartedly recommend it for non-guitarists.
Similarly, much of what has led to the professional success of Viewzi’s design guys is being applied to the company at large. Legendary designers are experts at harnessing creative chaos into a disciplined, consistent, productive process, and the rest of us at Viewzi get to benefit from that expertise in the form of an uncluttered feng shui office, coherent and cohesive keynote presentations, and a well partitioned production process.
As the paradigm in consumer internet shifts from data to presentation, the composition of small tech start-ups will be more heavily weighted towards design guys. That is a very good thing for the rest of us.
Comments
Chris J. Davis said:
Ah, but what about those of us who are designer/developers?
I have found the dichotomy between the creative process (moments of clarity pulled from chaos) and the development process(intuiting connections and logical pathways for and through information) to be mutually enriching.
Bottom line, good development empowers design, and good design informs development. Or something like that. From what I can see, you guys are throwing down that kind of synthesis already.
I hope it continues.
Posted on July 17, 2008 at 3:24 PM
Aaron said:
I agree that sometimes what designers bring to the table are the intangibles. We tend to think more outside of the box in regards to what should be done rather than what can currently be easily accomplished. We tend to dream more than plan. But the good designers know that the success of the dream requires an incredible amount of planning and preparation.
Posted on July 18, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Chris J. Davis said:
Agreed. What I think designers bring to the development process, if incorporated correctly, is the idea of thinking outside of the box. As a developer it is all to easy to get stuck in a development pattern that might get the job done, but not be as flexible or powerful if it could be if the developer could just see the problem from a different angle.
Of course too much “seeing it from a different angle” leads to stagnation, so it really is a fine line to walk… but one that yields amazing results when you pull it off.
Posted on July 18, 2008 at 2:21 PM
one with a vagina said:
..uh..and what about design ‘chicks’, yo
Posted on July 21, 2008 at 11:03 AM
New Age said:
Perhaps designing was the most easy profession a few year back but it is not now. I think it is hard to imagine and create such a design which would be eye catching and interactive. It is even difficult to have a designer on board who can do this.
Posted on July 26, 2008 at 6:29 AM
Steve said:
Designing is a job which should be done by a passionate person. There is no room for an average or ordinary person. I have seen many people who go on the top and some are disappeared from the screen totally. Regarding viewzi, Congratulations on such a smart and sleek design.
Posted on July 27, 2008 at 12:14 AM