Make Something to Disagree With
Or basically another way of advocating rapid iteration
Those that know me know that I can be a bit of a perfectionist (though no, I’ve never used that as my “weakness” in an interview). I want to make sure the details are right and everything is in its place. Like many coming from design, I notice the border that’s a pixel off or label that’s the wrong typeface.
However, when it comes to the process of creating a product, I ask myself, designers, engineers, anyone really, to show something. To just make something to disagree with.
Once you have a mockup, a prototype, a sketch, or just about anything, you have something to comment on. This starts the process of discussion and helping everyone get closer to understanding what the right thing is.
Imagine you’re redecorating your home and searching for the perfect dining table. The process could be, “think of all of your needs and preferences, list those out, describe the perfect dining table, and then go find it and buy it.”
Or it could be, “let’s look at some dining tables. How about this one? No? Why not?” Eventually, with a few of those, you’ll come to a clearer understanding of what you’re looking for and why.
By having something in front of you, you can say what you don’t like. You can disagree with it and then assess why, which helps you determine what you actually want.
Disagreeing with something is information.
