Hello epiphany. how ya doin? The joys of chaos
Holy heck. It just dawned on me. The presentation i’ve wanted to pull together for years has just found me. I am not an orator by nature, but i work very hard to hold my own. One of the things that holds me back at times is wondering if I truly have something to say. I have realistic expectations about the power of my words, but I never want to crank out a presentation that doesn’t add some value to the conversation at large.
So, what’s the big epiphany?
For many years I have been saying that what I do is “not about making order out of chaos, it is about finding the order within it.” After giving a presentation last week to a group of students I finally made that point the thread that tied my presentation together. It was a passable draft, but the key was – that was the first time I had made that mantra the focal point of my discussion.
With that statement in mind I have been doing a lot of looking into (read – ‘performing google searches regarding’) people who are comfortable with chaos, and or ‘finding the order within it’. The resources range from self-help books to Navy SEAL culture – that one is really quite fascinating.
User Experience has virtually nothing in common with the job of a Navy Seal for sure. The interesting point was how they promote a culture the thrives on chaos and pushes through no matter what obstacle gets in their way. So often I feel like projects aim to create order out of chaos and plan every detail. The most successful projects I’ve worked on have been with teams who could adapt and roll with the punches.
Every deliverable we create is in an effort to find that order and to communicate with others that we can see it. somewhere amid the myriad choices and options, there is a digital experience, product, or solution that will be successful.
I am postulating that unique experiences are created by those who are comfortable with chaos and who are able to stand back and let the solutions emerge. This could either go really well, or become a Malcolm Gladwell knock-off.
So… That’s it. That’s my perspective to share… i am going to work on that now. i’ll keep both of you posted.
Collecting resources (just a collection at this point):
- Twitter looks chaotic: but don’t be afraid By Gaby Hinsliff guardian.co.uk
- Be creative amid chaos By David Allen11 May 09
- The 2007 Giants: Comfortable in Chaos By David Finkelstein (Contributor) on May 15, 2009
- Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALS By Jeff Cannon, Jon Cannon
- Getting comfortable with chaos 30th May 09 by Ben Malbon & Heidi Hackemer
- “You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
- 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School [Hardcover]Matthew Frederick “Properly gaining control of the design process tends to feel like one is losing control of the design process”
What i think about stuff… As of today
- communication is the only reliable process
- if you are not using real content you are just fucking around.
- becoming a user is humbling. It’s amazing what happens when you rely on something you designed to get info. I’ve tested the app, but i never actually used it until today.
- curation is like the sucker fishes: the ecosystem depends on it.
- if you don’t have a network, whatever you build will be useless. No matter how fancy or state of the art. The biggest and worst assumption that gets made is that there will be a critical mass of people to participate in the community.
- questions are so much better than answers sometimes. The Socratic method is underutilized (except by those who overutilize it and are annoying).
Would you bet your bippy on it?
Assuming you had a bippy to bet, it’s an important question to ask when designing an experience… You could certainly replace ‘bippy’ with something you value more than your bippy.
Experience design is a series of choices based on assumptions. Assuming a user has a certain problem is the only way to create solutions. But what if you look at a screen and ask yourself how confident you are about each of the features represented. How would each feature rank based on your level of confidence that it is both usable and desirable? Is that layout/widget/nav etc. the _right_ choice?
Becoming comfortable with a design by acclimating yourself to the level of risk represented is a natural progression. But every once in a while you face a firing squad that forces you to stand by a decision. Thar’s when it is time to ask yourself if you have enough information to look someone in the eyes and say ‘i am confident you should do this.’ or better yet, become your own firing squad.
If you can’t recommend something with a certain level of confidence, it is a great sign that you need to go back to users. Validating your assumptions can give you confidence to move forward without losing a bippy.
Which one is the real made up marketing term?
Dermalick – creates the sensation of 1000 kittens licking your skin with organic, hypo-allergenic, botannicals.
Regenerist – reclaims the lifted look of your youth by replacing the outer layer of your skin one cell at a time.
People I’ve met at meetings
Every meeting i’ve called or attended in the last 12 years has been different. Following are some of the archetypical cast of characters I have observed (and at some time been myself)…
Single agenda lobbyist: the ‘sal’ comes to the meeting with the intent of driving one particular agenda item for which he is passionate. Sal will say his peace and may bring it up again if not satisfied with the response, but generally moves on. Unlike…
Pitbull: does not enter the meeting with an agenda item, but is constantly sniffing one out. He latches onto one somewhere mid-meeting and gets all asbergers on his issue. Then, during the recap of the meeting, adds the cherry on top by making his point one of the takeaway items… Yup. Gotcha.
Stranger: the guy sitting at the end of the table who has never attended any previous meetings on the topic. Usually spends the meeting just listening though he privately realized 3 minutes in that he does not need to attend.
Sponge: the one who does not say a thing but seems to be listening very intently. Maybe even taking diligent notes. I’ve benefited from those notes at times.
Non-sequitor: sometimes disguised as the sponge then suddenly brings up a point he clearly thinks is related, but the rest of the room silently agrees is not. Staring and blinking ensues… Everyone moves on.
The friendly: just when you run of gas trying to fend off the non-seq and pitbull – the friendly speaks in support of the point you are trying to get across. Yes! Go friendly person. That’s exactly what i am trying to say.
The egghead: bordering on obsessive compulsive, this detail-oriented chap is the one everyone turns to when a discussion leads to the question ‘is x possible?’
Worker bee: attends the meeting simply as an excuse to sit down and catch up on emails. When the conversation is directed toward him, he will likely respond with ‘what was the question again?’
The final word: this is a rare sighting indeed, but a critical one in the life of a project. You’ve heard the name mentioned throughout the project, but now you finally meet the fw with a couple of weeks left. She will decide in the first moment of the meeting whether the project will live, die or be drastically altered.
I could easily follow up this post with people i’ve met on the train.
