Blog
01.19
Designing for Yourself: Know When to Quit
I used to have two roommates, Laura and Denise. When Laura was thirsty, she asked Denise to make her an ice water. Not out of laziness. Rather, she claimed when Denise made ice water, it tasted better. Because Laura also routinely dressed like a murderous clown and burst out of closets in an obvious attempt to make me comfortable in my own home, I won't credit her with any deeper introspective.
I haven't designed something for myself in ages. My own Web site long ago disappeared and was past its sell-by date long before that. I find myself to be the worst example of a client—second-guessing, judgemental, and ignorant of my own differentiators. I'd fire me if I didn't dread running into myself later the same night.
Luckily, a colleague of mine was in a similar pickle. So, after talking it through, we proposed an interesting exercise: she and I would design each other's Web sites. Each of us would rely on the other's expertise to create a design that reflects not how we see our respective selves, but how we are seen by our peers.
We've met a few times now for some collaborative design sessions, and I have to say, my crazy roommate Laura was on to something. I'll share the results of this exercise in a later post.
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