Prototyping as Design
Elise Pescheret
I was extremely inspired after a demo from the founders of Framer.js today. Their vision on the future of prototyping is spot on. They talked about how what we call “design” is changing and expanding. No more is it static graphics, but how we interact with the products and services in our lives. This point of view is extending to the early stages of the design process, where ideating involves tactile mock-ups.
This shift calls for more attention paid to how users feel about their products, their pain points, their joys, and thoughtfully reacting to them. Quickly reacting to them. Reacting as if witnessing a conversation between two people - complete with listening, interpreting, and reacting. Reading facial cues, showing emotion.
Visuals are only part of design. It is exciting that we have tools to help us designers live up to our title. They help us treat design as an experience, thinking through each tiny detail as we build them. Design can be a loaded term, but to me it is exciting that the definition is being added to. Designers are problem solvers, skilled in thinking through difficult challenges, just as other strategists are. The edge we have is being able to show rather than tell.