3 Powerful Design Methods to Help You Overcome Any Obstacle

photography by Marc Shandro

“After weeks of watching the roof leak I fixed it tonight by moving a single board” -Gary Snyder

One thing I’ve learned about working at a design and consulting firm is I’m never short of interesting projects to work on—whether we’re redesigning condiment packets, or designing a safer work flow for the operating room, or making electronic devices easier to interact with—I get the opportunity to work on a wide range of design projects.

So how can one consistently produce innovative and meaningful solutions to various and sometimes seemingly random design challenges? There’s definitely a process we use, and I’ve broken them down to 3 simple steps you can start using.

Observe

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes” -Marcel Proust

Before you start to do anything, always observe. Try observing all things, big and small, black and white, rich and poor. The reason is, we, unfortunately, act as the first filter to any observation. When something is introduced into our lives, we start to adapt and accept it. And the more it becomes part of our lives, the less we’ll notice it or ever ask why it’s always been like that.

For example, consider something we all take for granted like brushing our teeth. When working with Oral-B, designers observed kids brushing their teeth and discovered most of them held the brushes in their entire fists rather than their fingertips. This insight led to the creation of the first kids’ toothbrush with a fat handle.

photography by Xander!

If one were to design this toothbrush without observing first, one might believe that designing a bigger toothbrush for kids would be silly since adults have bigger hands. Logically this might make sense, but observing real life will tell you otherwise. Because of the fatter handle, the Oral-B toothbrush became the world’s best-selling kid’s toothbrush.

Polls, statistics, ratings, focus groups and questionnaires are useful at times, but they can also be too focused and lack the proper context and subtlety to paint a meaningful picture. As much as possible, go out in the field, as nothing beats the first hand experience. Observe often, as behavior, culture and technology are constantly changing. Observing is the difference between coming up with a mediocre idea or an innovative or sometimes even revolutionary one.