Design for Humans, Not Your Ego
As a designer, I want to:
- Design what I want to design.
- Design what I like.
- Design what makes me feel good.
These are some underlying feelings we all have towards our work. Perhaps it is why we started it in the first place. From falling in love with the design software to getting frustrated about not being creative enough and yet we still love the output.
It’s embedded in us to love our creation.
Just like God loves us.
But loving our creation too much (in this case, design) is a problem. A big problem. Because the effects will fall back on you.
Why Loving Our Work Too Much Is Bad.
I get that you created it.
I get that it took time to create.
I get you might have spent time and resources to get it done.
But if no one else gets it, it’s not worth it.
The whole purpose of you wanting to design is because you saw someone do it and others approved of their design with so much genuineness. You saw how good it felt and you wanted that.
The reason you admire the work of other designers is because they helped their audience (which might be you) think, feel, or act in a certain way.
Design for Humans, Not Your Ego
The satisfaction that comes with knowing that you’re helping people is priceless.
Loving your work too much is bad because you only understand it, meaning there’s going to be no validation of your ideas — because no one gets it, which is going to leave you frustrated and overwhelmed.
It’s like I said, the effects fall back on you.
Early into design, I did what I wanted.
I designed what I saw to be beautiful.
It was okay.
But did it make any impact? Probably not.
After a while, I got drowned in minimalism. I craved whitespace. I just loved it so much I forgot that I was blending in. I thought I stood out but looking at it now, I was the same as any other person who loved minimalism.
I still love a minimal design once in a while.
I was creating designs that had just text on them. Black background, white text and white background black text with some pretty good formatting.
I didn’t know what my audience wanted; I was just posting it because I liked it.
The problem?
I had no clue that design was for them.
What can I give to them?
How can I make them understand?
How can I provide them with value?
It’s all about them.
It’s about giving, giving, giving.
They don’t care about your internal monologue, they need clear, impactful communication — value.
Value doesn’t necessarily mean educational content, value can mean:
- Making some think,
- Making someone laugh,
- Speaking to emotions
You’re not in this for self-gratification.
Your job is to serve the people, the public, the intended viewers.
That’s design done right.
Stop designing for yourself!
Start designing for impact.
And that’s it for today.
See you around.
