Poking Holes in Design

I learned that creating value in design means listening to others through customer interviews, in addition to thinking critically. 

I don’t mean thinking critically in the traditional sense. I mean to literally think about the design in order to critique its value. We need to go after our design decisions with forks and knives so we can poke as many holes as possible. Once the holes are found, they can be fixed, and our pitch becomes more and more evidence-based. 

This insight inspired a newfound zeal for customer discovery and collecting feedback. My attitude for this work drastically changed. I wanted to step into the customers’ shoes and justify the value of design through their eyes and their internal struggles. 

This approach also allowed me to understand competitors from the customer’s point of view.

This knowledge helped me get my job as a solutions engineer. The hiring process included a presentation for hypothetical clients who had little-to-no background on what solutions they wanted. I focused on the philosophy of customer discovery and included questions for the clients about their pain points. Instead of presenting predetermined solutions, I was a customer advocate. After the presentation, the interviewers shared that I was ahead of their new graduate training. I doubt I could have landed this great job without the practice I gained in value creation in FSE 301.