Setting tough targets
This morning I was taking a colleague through some designs I’d worked on. He was worried that the client’s current technology limited our ability to realise the designs. He’s right, it is going to be tough. The easy route would be to scale back the designs to fit in with the way the data currently works.
But (without getting too philosophical) I’m a great believer in our ability to innovate, and I know that if a designer and a developer share the challenge then, together, they can work out a solution that is new and different.
This is why cxpartners love working on the challenging projects. They force us to think harder and come up with new ways to do things. That’s what get’s me out of bed in the morning!
Jonathan Ive discussed this at the launch of the iPhone 4. Apple wanted more features in less space. It was those tough and opposing targets that led them to the innovative idea of saving space by making the case of the phone double as its antennae.
Innovation comes from facing up to challenges.
About the author
Richard is a managing director at cxpartners. He works with brands to develop engaging user experiences for different devices, and loves creative problem solving. Richard does a lot of baking, and loves to make bread. Email Richard, or call +44 (0)117 946 3930
Subscribe to the RSS feed
Nice!
We are working on a project at the moment and use the term “optimal experiences” – We may not be able to achieve them now, but we shoot for the best solution (understanding constraints) and peel back from there.
Also innovations come in micro and large sizes and often users just want the basics to work really, really well.
rgds,
Dan in Hong Kong
Hi Dan, that sounds ace. We’re really going for orientating our client work around clear points of vision and focus. It gives everyone a clear grounding on what the project will become.
Yes that seems to be working well for us to say something like:
* Critical user journeys
* Key questions in and around those journeys
* Aggregating up to frameworks, design goals vision
* Helping to articulate and refine design/product strategy
and around you go …
rgds,
Dan