Self Design and Missing Pigs
Oh...
... hello there, friends. Didn't see you there with all these leaves on the ground.
Thinking Too Hard 🤔
Ben Robbins, creator of several unique RPGs, recently made a call for designers to make the game they want to play, saying that when you do so, both you and the game will have a 'heart'. This sounds like the concept of 'freak energy' I've been writing about. It also reminds me of a talk from ... oh wow, 14 years ago...
Jared Spool spoke in 2010 about the Anatomy of a Design Decision where he creates tiers of design thinking. The lowest tier is 'Unintentional Design', where the creators aren't paying attention and accidentally (or are forced to) produce something hard to use. Above this, Jared places 'Self Design', which is what Ben Robbins is talking about: designing for yourself (and people like you). Jared goes on to create 3 higher tiers of design thinking with increasing levels of abstraction from the self.
Each level above 'Self Design' requires understanding the WHO you are designing for and what they need and want, either informed by data or research. Ben calls this 'witchcraft', trying to span that 'gap' between what you know and what you're designing for.
When you're designing for yourself, there IS no 'gap'. You can immediately tell when something is working because YOU are the target. This short-circuits the research loop and allows for huge bursts of momentum and can lead to some marvelous work.
But... and both Ben and Jared touch on this, you are not everybody. I think Self Design is an ideal mode of creation for the soloist, allowing you to skip and hop over stumbling blocks, BUT, you're going to have to be ok with the idea that people may not engage with your work the same way you do.
But who are you publishing for, anyways?
Interesting Web Bits 🍿
- Maybe it's time to take a look at our CSS resets
- A text-adventure about a lost pig
- A guide to how and when React renders
- austinoaq created this single Vanilla JavaScript file that shows the basic principles of how React, Vue, and Angular work. Pretty neat!