Building Publicly as a Designer
Sometimes it’s hard to share your work as a designer within your company or with the larger design community. The concept of “building in public” is one that breaks people out of their silos and garners visibility and feedback on ongoing work. Building in public also helps enhance the quality of solutions you are producing.
As a designer, building in public could mean presenting your ongoing work to the design team or a more cross-functional team at your company. Alternatively, it could involve showcasing your work to the design community, including other designers you are connected to across the industry. Regardless of the audience you choose, here are three thoughts to keep in mind as you build publicly.
Publicly built means frequently shared
You can keep your intended audience updated about the design work you are doing by regularly sharing recent iterations and new design patterns you are creating.
Frequent sharing offers several benefits. Firstly, it helps refine and improve the way you present ongoing work; because you’ve shared it so many times, you master the processes and can communicate the work areas more effectively. Secondly, it keeps you accountable for the work you are doing and sharpens your skills in transparent collaboration.
Building publicly to test and correct assumptions
Suppose you’ve shared work with your cross-functional team for feedback. However, the project has compliance constraints you were not aware of, and the compliance team flags this as something you should consider in your designs. Sharing work for feedback within a cross-functional team can help address some of your assumptions or blind spots.
Building publicly is like inviting others into your learning journey
I learned this point from Jocelyn Wyatt, the former CEO of IDEO. In her farewell memo, she talks about the effects of sharing the parts of your journey that are not polished and specifically not wins. These relatable aspects of your journey resonate with people who are also going through similar situations.
By acknowledging that you are not perfect and may have missteps but are open to feedback, you demonstrate not only accountability but also a willingness to embrace vulnerability and humility in your work. This approach resonates because people generally appreciate vulnerability in spaces where it’s not common.
Promoting a culture of “building in public” is vital for designers. It entails regularly sharing work, seeking feedback, iterating, and being open to all aspects of a collaborative design process. Embracing this culture drives continuous improvement in design practices.
