Human centred design

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Design is not a cure for cancer. They were the final words Ken Cato’s wife said as she slammed the door behind her and left the building.* Harsh but true. Design is not a cure for cancer. An early boss had a very similar message during my very first role [...]

Photography by Image Workshop You can't charge for a plan, but you can charge for a strategy. Here I am, just twelve weeks into my ‘new career’ of design researcher (rather than design practitioner), and one topic of confusion seems to be following me: the difference between a strategy and a plan. It was a [...]

The design business leadership gap The Australian design scene has matured rapidly in the last five years. We are seeing design agencies become a central part of start ups, buy-outs by large corporates and amalgamations but we have a design business leadership gap. In our work we've come to realise professional development has not kept [...]

Staying relevant: designers need business skills Clients expect that you’ll deliver all the elements of the designer’s craft; brand consistency, slick on-brief design, coding, style guides, prototyping, testing  etc. If that’s all you offer you have about 12,000 competitors in Australia. Gaining business skills could reduce this to about 500 competitors. These skills can move [...]

I know what clients really want... Many clients brief designers having already decided what the problem is and the type of work that needs to be done to solve it. They come to the designer because they think they need a website or an app or a small campaign. Here-in lies the problem. Most clients [...]

Better clients, better work - the ‘LEAN’ way I have now clocked up more than 30 years in the design industry, the last 13 years having worked with thousands of designers in seminars, workshops and mentoring through the Design Business Council. One of the things I constantly observe is that designers are too generous. They [...]

Designing studio culture I have recently been doing a lot of work with studios who are wanting to improve workflow. This has led to looking at the studio positioning, roles and responsibilities (job descriptions) and the studio culture. It's all about people. In  my work for all sized studios one aspect remains the same in [...]

I thank you. Working with great clients on interesting projects is the best feeling in the world. I love building a relationship, working together to achieve a common goal and then celebrating the rollout. But after that last deliverable is, well, delivered, the last communication between a designer and a client is usually the account: [...]