Design on the Soles of Her Shoes
One trait of a good designer is that they are observant—much more so than the average person. They tend to notice things that “normal” people wouldn’t give a second thought. Furthermore, when a designer makes an observation, they proceed to puzzle out the reason behind it. I’ll give an example.
I was sitting in the front pew at church yesterday morning while the congregation was taking communion. This particular Sunday, we were taking communion at the rail in front of the altar. This requires that everyone kneel for a minute. Consequently, if you happen to be sitting in the front pew, you can see the bottoms of people’s shoes.
I noticed that one of the senior women of our church had words on her shoes. She had written the word “black” on the bottom of each shoe with a black marker. The shoes were, indeed, black. I also noticed that the words were written in the space between the heel and the part of the sole that would come in contact with the ground, and would therefore not wear off. Then I asked myself why she had done that. I imagine that, like most women, she has quite a few pairs of shoes of many different colors. She likely keeps then on some type of rack or holder, like those things with all the shoe-sized pockets that hang from the back of your closet door. Perhaps, when put away, the soles of the shoes are facing her. Or, likely as not, the closet is poorly lit, and it is hard to tell her black shoes from the navy blue.
Did anyone else notice her shoes? Perhaps. If so, did they put as much thought towards it as I did? Not likely. I’m not trying to say that designers are the only ones with the tendency to continually analyze their environment. My point is that all designers, and especially Interaction Designers, should. We see the world slightly differently—a hyper-awareness that doesn’t take everyday things for granted. It’s a skill that helps us solve problems in innovative ways, or at least to discover the problems that need solving.