Not everyone is a Designer

Knowing how to use Photoshop or Keynote doesn’t make someone a designer, the same way knowing how to use a paintbrush doesn’t make someone an artist. Anyone can use a pencil, but not everyone can create amazing pencil illustrations. Anyone can use a camera, but not everyone has solid understanding of light to stand out from an average photographer.

What separates Designers from the “I’ve got an opinion”?

• Designers act as the “go to” persons within an organization in areas where their talent and knowledge of UX research, user interface best practices, and creativity to solve complex problems can best be applied.

• Designers think of design in term of personas, use cases and scenarios.

• Designers can identify subtle interaction and visual design problems. They make decisions based on principles of design and a holistic product vision rather than throwing something together because it looks nice or cool.

• Designers can distill large data sets into friendly, insightful visualizations.

• Designers always work with multiple solutions before making a choice.

• Designers offer specific, constructive, actionable feedback at the appropriate level in terms of design principles, guidelines and branding strategy.

• Designers don’t just throw something on their screen and hope it looks professional and sends the right message. There is a thought process; color choice, placement and knowing what works best for that client’s message and intended medium.

• Designers are innovative, they are creative and can create mind blowing ideas that the average person cannot.

• Designers have a meticulous eye and strong appreciation for good design, always focusing on the relative importance of both form and function.

• Designers can convince a team that a design idea is good and technically (or tastefully) feasible.

• Designers go beyond. This is their career, they are educated. Your project is just as important to them as it is to you.

Do you face a similar problem in your professional career? If so how do you tackle the situation? Happy to hear your thoughts!