Everyone thinks that being a designer is a very interesting job. Because we are doing creative design every day. Of course, that means: having passion and inspiration throughout the day. (Laughs) But nothing will always go smoothly. Sometimes we can’t find the state at all, our minds are empty, and we can’t think of any good ideas. This situation is particularly easy to occur at the critical moment of a design project, or when you need to reflect your design level. (This sounds miserable~~) We will all experience such a low ebb. Of course, when design enters the trough, each of us has our own way to resolve: or give ourselves a day off; or eat a hearty meal; read a book or talk to friends. But these methods are not feasible every time~~ So what can we do to avoid such difficult moments?
The one-hour box that I want to share with you is one such method.
Its advantages:
1. It won’t take a lot of time
As a designer, how to complete the work with high quality as planned is one of the important topics we encounter in our daily work. We will also formulate a corresponding work schedule at the beginning of the work and complete the work according to the plan. However, our schedule is usually relatively rough (for example: *month*day afternoon, design 3 sets of different styles of the main interface to participate in the review). However, there is an obvious problem with such a plan. For example, at noon that day, I found myself exhausted by this design, and it seems that these designs have deviated from the original design idea. But you have no way to start a new project again. (Cups~)
So every hour of work, stop and look back at the work done during this hour. The benefits of this are undoubtedly very obvious, because we can review our design direction, design focus and design results every hour. This can also greatly improve efficiency. If we find that there has been a deviation, we now have plenty of time to adjust. This is very helpful for the continuation of our design work.
2. Let you make periodic decisions in time
Arranging work on an hourly basis can really be stressful. Because this will give us a “must complete” mentality. But this is not a bad thing. It has a positive effect: you will have to make a decision about the current design work, so that you avoid wasting time pursuing or trying different design ideas aimlessly. It can also avoid spending too much time and energy in the wrong direction.
In this process, we will constantly think “Is it useful to do this?” “Can the expected effect be achieved?” This constant review allows us not to deviate from the design purpose, so as to clear our thinking and save time. If a certain decision is wrong, then the error can be discovered in time in the review time after the end of each hour and adjustments can be made. This is very beneficial to the final completion of our design work.
3. “Results” every hour
Because we spend time and energy every hour to set goals and rules, and implement them according to them. In this way, the hourly work becomes very focused, and the things to be done in this hour are also very clear. Does this design look good? Can it meet the needs of the product? The answer is clear, and the work done for it is obvious.
At this time, the design will take shape very naturally, because the time is limited, which reduces the chance of visual fatigue to this design. (Laughs) A good design is not only visually stimulating, but the most important thing is: it must meet the functional requirements of the product. Because the time is fixed, the design is “strained”, so…
Here are the steps you need to do:
1. Prepare a timer you love!
Any kind of timer you think can be used is fine. The most important thing is if it is interesting. Because we all know that there are many examples of being late when pressing the alarm in the morning to continue sleeping. (Laughs) So, it must attract your attention and make you stop working to face it.
In addition, what you need most is to give your mind an alarm, after all, persistence is our real magic weapon.
2. Make sure your plan is effective!
When starting a design, use a whiteboard or notepad to write down all the requirements, or write it on a sticky note and stick it on the edge of the display. It is easy to see.
Write down some keywords, such as “3 buttons on the login interface”, and it is best to add a sentence or two of description to make yourself more clear about the content to be designed, so that the design ideas will be clear. We can also write down the early thoughts of the very specific design considered. Write down the font style or color scheme you want to adopt now. Don’t limit yourself, the more you write here, the more careful you can see, the clearer what we can see.
Maybe the product manager or interaction designer has given us wireframes or sketches? Put all of these in your notes. Now, our planned design plan has begun to take shape, and we will continue to take it out regularly to correct the deviations in our upcoming design.
3. Inspire yourself!
Our minds must be filled with many interesting ideas, inspiring designs, interesting concepts and some unique implementation schemes. But we also need to refer to the design of other products of the same type or a design with a broader view of foreign countries (it can be a complete design of others, or part of a design) to complete the current design.
This is not to plagiarize or copy the work of another designer. This is just to stimulate our creative inspiration before completing our design project. Check out if other designers have faced the same design as you. “How did they do it?” “Can I do better?”
Similarly, we also look at the competitors of our products. Did they do something better and make users like it more? If so, then we need to consider how to do better than them. If not, then ask yourself: Which part of them is lacking?
These thoughts made us start innovation. Asking ourselves these questions is very helpful for us to determine the direction and purpose of our work, and can prevent us from getting into some unnecessary thinking.
Finally, we collected the designs that gave us inspiration and put them in a special folder. Or print it out.
4. Design!
This is the most important part and the most basic part: the design process itself.
When we have clear thinking and a concise and clear design outline, we can put “design into an hour’s box”. Let’s turn on the timer now and start designing!
Now plan a goal and put in the most substantial design work we can accomplish in an hour. In fact, it does not mean that every design must be completed within 1 hour. Sometimes we will complete a design in 2-4 hours. At this time, I suggest that you divide the design of a few hours into small steps with an hourly unit, (for example, determine the icon line draft in the first hour, determine the color in the second hour, and adjust the consistency of the icon and interface), so There will be many benefits after splitting. 1. We always know the time clearly. 2. We will focus on what is in front of us, because we only have one hour.
Here is one thing to note: In this hour, we are serious and dedicated to design, not in a hurry. It’s also very important, that’s what decision is right and should be implemented. Don’t change the goals in the plan arbitrarily. This may cause us to go back to the old path, resulting in a waste of time and endless The desired result.
The design method based on the hourly unit needs to gradually develop a habit. Maybe we first try to use it for two or three design projects. Once we adapt to this method, we will feel that the design work and design capabilities are clearly under our own control.
We can provide a consistent and reliable design for every project or product we are responsible for. We will also like our work more. Just like the ad slogan “Everything is under control”, in such a comfortable state of mind, why not have creative inspiration?
(PS: This method is also what I learned from other designers. Although it is not a magical thing that can make your design perfect, it is a way to make better use of your time, thereby A small method to minimize the influence of external unfavorable factors. And I have been using it, and it feels really effective. You can also adjust and use it with your own habits. If you think it is really effective, please also Share with your friends. (*^__^*))
