“A Triangle shaped designer blends the KPIs of business and Design”
What is a Triangle shaped designer?
In essence the idea of a triangle shaped designer is an extension of the ubiquitous IDEO “T-shaped” designer concept. These are people who have a depth of skill and experience in one discipline, (the vertical stroke), while also having a breadth of skills and experience across other disciplines, represented by the horizontal stroke.
The triangle concept adds to this:
“In a triangle shaped design concept, it is really important to understand the people because ultimately we are going to design things for the people, and understanding the business part of the product can help to take right decision to shape the design in a way that people would love to pay and we should always be designing for the people problems because that’s what our aim is, to solve problems for people.”
My main takeaway from this is that to be a triangle shaped designer, you need to continue thinking about the problem you are solving and people you are solving it for, but also consciously think about how your work enables your business to deliver those benefits to your customers. At the end of the day, a business only exists to solve a particular problem for a particular group of people.
This concept really chimes in with the point I was making last week around business priorities and design. The two can, and should be aligned.
Personally I have found that sometimes when we as designers are presenting work, we don’t always fully explain how a design supports business goals which is why where is sometimes a perceived disconnect between design and business goals.
I’m going to try to be really conscious of explaining business benefits of the design decisions I have made when sharing and presenting work with my colleagues.
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