The skills we want to learn as designers are usually not the ones we need.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema

I have a list of future writing topics that I call The Void. It's only called The Void because that's what Dan Koe in his Two Hour Writer course called it. Given that my entire workflow has since simplified and diverged from his system in ways that make more sense to (and for) me, The Void as a name for this list is now somewhat vestigial.

Nevertheless, when I'm stuck for things to write about, I'll give The Void a look. This morning, looking over my list, a common theme jumped out at me. Design skills. I had a chat last week with a Mechanical Engineer who is potentially looking to get into design. Perhaps in that light, I looked at my list from a different perspective. Not just what specific design skills are, but also holistically what skills matter most, when they're needed, and how to attain them.

On The Spectrum

Often in conversation about design I talk about Industrial Design as a spectrum. Something I've not heard others talk about, either because they don't care or they don't overthink it like me. Regardless, I see Industrial Design as an occupation can loosely sit anywhere along this spectrum. At one end is art. Pure self expression for it's own sake. On the other end lies engineering.

I know Industrial Designers that sit close to either end of this spectrum. I would consider myself sitting somewhere in the middle - tending slightly towards the engineering end. Fortunately, there's work out there suited to each and every one of us.

While being very good in one particular region of this spectrum, competent designers usually have good skills in adjacent regions extending in either direction. As a graduate you start broad, and tighten up your skill set with time and experience.

To the mechanical engineer I spoke to last week, I encouraged him to start pushing his skill envelope towards to the other end of the spectrum. This would give him a broader skill set and make him more versatile as an Industrial Designer. At least to start.

Subspectrum Skills

Within a given region along this spectrum there lies another subspectrum of knowledge and skills (the two are separate, but for simplicity I'll bundle them) required to be competent within that region. For example; the classic (and broadest) Industrial Design skill set will include skills in ideation, sketching, prototyping, CAD modelling, product visualisation etc. as well as knowledge in various production materials and processes, supply chain, etc.

For a designer specialising in exterior car design however, knowledge in shape psychology and skills in clay modelling may be especially important. Conversely, a designer working in orthopaedics will require knowledge of CNC machining and skills in developing functional mechanisms. Both Industrial Designers, and yet both with their exclusive skill sets within their region on the spectrum. And I say exclusive because while it's possible to increase skills and knowledge across the board, at some point specific advanced knowledge and skills must come at the expense of others. As the depth increases, so too does the breadth narrow.

Supporting Skills

It's interesting watching young designers in the Design Theory Discord server ask about which CAD software, or which drawing tablet, or what render lighting setup to use.

While being good at sketching, modelling, and rendering is useful, being good at these things does not inherently make a good designer. Yet we constantly use beautiful CAD models, amazing sketches, and incredible product visualisations as proxies for good design because they are easy to compare and evaluate.

Indeed many designers that get very good at product visualisation in college may never do so in their professional life. Vice-versa, designosaurs that have never touched Keyshot in their careers can become highly competent within a very short time should they choose to.

These kinds of skills across the entire design spectrum can be interchanged as one's career evolves. Especially today where many of the tools are easy to use, readily available, and tuition (paid and free) is highly accessible. It is always possible to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge as needed or desired. In the Information Age they are, in essence, a commodity.

While it's good to be good at these things, they are not the foundational skills needed for design. These are the supporting skills necessary to communicate and realise our design, they are not the design itself. The foundational skills of good design (and good designers) start before pen ever touches paper.

Foundational Skills

Industrial Design is often about solving human problems and as such understanding how humans think, how they behave, and how to get them to do what you want them to do.

I've long said that design is highly philosophical. I would even go so far as saying that if I was ever to create an Industrial Design course (like, in a Bauhaus way, not a Udemy way) I would include philosophy and marketing as part this foundation.

Rather than trying get the tools for communication right, young designers would be better served by asking questions like; How do I think critically? How do I better empathise? What is second order thinking? I don't think I've ever seen these questions asked.

These questions lay the groundwork on which the solution is built. The need to empathise with users and stakeholders, as well as ideating and testing your hypothesis with them cannot be understated. If the problem is not well defined and the solution not well tested, what you're building is likely neither complete or appropriate. No matter how well it's communicated.

Foundational skills are; How to talk and listen to people. How to think laterally. How to think critically. How to get off your chair and meet users where they are. How to filter and sort information. How to identify root causes. How to explore a problem space. How to test your ideas.

The problem is that these things in isolation they utterly ineffective and [nearly] impossible to attach value to. These concepts; what we learn, the problems we identify and how solve them must all be communicated. Without communication they remain locked away in our mind. We have to use the proxies of sketching, modelling, and rendering to show how good our ideas are. But the foundation needs to be solid first.

A poor solution communicated beautifully is still a poor solution.