Afew days ago, I wrote a post on LinkedIn that got a lot of attention, so I thought I could elaborate a bit more and share the same piece of advice with my Medium following.
When you are a designer in a leading role, there’s one thing you need to learn: to let go.
If you lead a team of designers, you need to learn to trust their experience and deal with the fact that things won’t always be done EXACTLY the way they are in your head. Because we are all different, and, even if there are lots of rules in design, there is also a big grey area where personal judgment and taste are into play.
I’ve seen this happening a lot with newly appointed design lead/managers. It’s a common mistake and something, I’m sure, I’ve been guilty of myself. When you move from being an individual contributor to leading a project or team, there’s a learning curve, and, in most cases, we find ourselves in that position without proper training or mentoring and we learn as we go.
Some designers even pride themselves on being “detail obsessed” and even “OCD”. And, don’t take me wrong, attention to detail is important and something you should strive for, but when these details are SUBJECTIVE and not OBJECTIVE, that’s where the problem is. As I mentioned earlier, there are rules in design, but there are a lot of personal opinions as well. So, one thing is making sure all cards corners are the same radius and that they fit the brand, another is asking them to be 2dp rounder or shapers, just because.
Once the production part of the design is off your hands, you really need to learn how to let it go and think more big picture stuff than subjective little decisions in the execution.
Designers in your team don’t want to feel like they are an extension of your arm or a tool through which you make the design job yourself. If that’s the case, grab the mouse/trackpad/tablet and do it.
Don’t use designers as a proxy to execute YOUR thing.
As a designer yourself, you surely envision how the design should look like. But you can’t expect the other designers in your team to share that exact same vision in details. Guide the design process, don’t force it.
When you’re about to ask a designer to do some changes to a design they are working on, question yourself why you are asking that and if the request is based on objective needs (like real mistakes, inconsistencies, brand guidelines, design best practices…) and not purely on your taste, or worse, your mood. If the amends are rightfully motivated, always provide the reason so that they can understand and learn.
Your personal taste or opinion are not a valid reason for asking changes to a design.
This doesn’t mean you don’t have to give feedback and mentor, but only when necessary or requested. You need to avoid micromanaging and make the designers feel like they are just an extension of your arm. The consequence of that is harming their self-confidence and making them question themselves and their skills, ultimately hindering their growth instead of fostering it.
