We always need a fresh pair of eyes. It’s not a failure of the designer or dev team when they “miss something”. We are human. We are not machines. Even the most experienced designer will miss something when they are heads down trying to solve a complex problem.

Design Fails?

What is failure as a designer? Missing a margin? Missing a font size? An imperfect user experience?

I have a theory about being a designer. While there are concrete rules that govern good design (using a grid, understanding color theory, creating movement and flow, and using established typographic systems, etc), what makes a design truly great is subjective. Different people have different opinions on which designers are great and which ones are not.

An example from the fine art world: I’m not a big fan of Jackson Pollack’s work, but many consider him one of the greatest artists of all time. While I acknowledge his contribution to the art world, his work doesn’t move me personally.

The subjective nature of what makes a design great can make it hard to feel confident and not be affected by imposter syndrome. It can cause us to overly focus on perceived “failures” of missing details, as those smaller details are easier to measure and agree upon. It can give us that sinking feeling in our chest when a missed detail is pointed out.

Re-writing the narrative

I encourage us all to be the gatekeepers of our own internal dialogue around perceived “misses”. There is a freedom that comes with knowing that while the details are important and we should always strive to create an elevated experience for our users down to the smallest details, those small details are not the inherent value that we, as individuals, bring to the table. That is not the greatness. The greatness, in my humble opinion, is the thing we create together that we could not have made on our own. The greatness is releasing the non-constructive internal perfectionism of the “I” for the collaborative perfectionism of the “We”