Designing with purpose

In my early days as a designer, I used to feel like I was falling behind and lacking ambition. I'd see others developing their own unique design styles, designing as much as they could, while I felt stuck as if I didn't have my styling personality or even the desire to design

I thought admitting this would make me seem like a mediocre designer. But as I grew personally and professionally, I realized I wasn't wrong or mediocre; I was just staying true to the kind of designer I wanted to be.

I have several concerns about having a personal design ‘styling’. First, as a trained designer, I understand the importance of aesthetics, compositions, proportions, colours, and so on, in creating something beautiful. But there's a lot of subjectivity in this – what's aesthetically pleasing to one group might not be to another, and what makes a product desirable or functional can vary. So, it seems like personal style is subjective.

I don't design just for myself because I don't necessarily need everything I design, and it would feel selfish to impose my styling preference on all products, especially if I'm not the final user. As designers, we should understand what the end user wants, not just impose our preferences. We're trained to listen to their needs and help them visualize them as a result of their motivations, desires, culture, needs, etc.

If I had a recognised designer signature, my perspective might be different. But I respect and admire the various renamed designers around the world designing under their names; it's just not what interests me. I want to design with a purpose, and that purpose is to design for people. Plus, there's endless inspiration out there, and I want to explore as much as possible rather than sticking to my own biases.

I just would like to make sure designing is needed. 

I just want to make sure that when I design, it's truly needed. Sometimes, as designers, we jump straight into designing without considering if it's necessary. I've done it myself. But there are many situations where design intervention isn't needed in the traditional sense.

That's why I've always been passionate about user research – understanding the purpose of design, advocating for the end user, and considering the impact of our decisions within a specific context. I want to avoid overdesigning and be mindful of the resources we use and the impact on people and the environment. Ultimately, I hope to create something meaningful.