29 Mar Prompt Cards
Our prompt cards are intended to motivate novice designers – and we include ourselves in this definition of design expertise – to develop and maintain their own design habits of practice. In doing so, we borrow inspiration from two sources:
Deliberate Practice – which involves not only improving the skills that you already possess, but extending both the reach and range of your skills. (The Making of an Expert, Ericsson et al, 2006).
Forging a new identity through habits – we are taken with the premise that habits are more than efficiencies or short-cuts, rather, they are pathways to a future identity. (Atomic Habits: an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones, Clear, 2018).
Our hope is that our prototype assists novice designers in moving towards their new identity, as a designer of futures.
From insights to prompts
Our prompt cards are questions, suggestions and activities that are intended to encourage deliberate practice and reflection. The cards are aligned with the following insights:
Good Design Starts with Advocacy
Designers need to advocate to enhance the perceived value of their own work and to substantiate the depth and iterative nature of their intended approach. Before design work can begin, designing the design work must take precedence. Ultimately, designers need to tell a better story about themselves, going beyond intended project outputs to sharing their process.
Design is an anticipatory state of being
whether it’s an industrial designer exploring a new material or a strategic designer grappling with complex systems, design is explicitly associated with future states, near and far. Anticipation is a positive re-frame of the angst and uncertainty that bedevils novice designers. Anticipatory states heighten our awareness of current environments, helping to build towards alternative futures.
On the road to mastery, learn from travelers
Inexperienced designers can learn effectively from peers and intermediate designers. Experts take short-cuts, break the rules and may confuse novice designers. For novice designers to learn from peers, the design process needs to be reflexive and accessible. Novice designers may benefit from borrowing techniques from other professions that have codified progression.
Go beyond the algorithm and nurture curiosity
Designers need to embrace intentionality in their own practice, actively seeking out non-traditional views and perspectives. Intentional habits of curiosity, inspiration and reflection need to extend beyond social media algorithms. Going forward, designers must balance craft and experiences with AI convenience.
Design Literacy matters
Design history provides context to where design has come from and what it may transform into. Knowing what has come before, even with unintended bias and consequences, builds nuanced perspectives. Designers need to seek out critique and challenges to their thinking and ways of working and cultivate their design literacy.
Design for depth over scratching the surface
Design is an attitude – both a thing to do and a way to be. Designers need to embrace depth and iteration in their approach to projects and their own growth. Designers need to learn to balance the spiral of research with a measured ability to weigh and consider competing options. Avoiding one-and-done, helps build design expertise and the tenacity to take on complex challenges.
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