Why collaboration is so vital for humans
source link: https://uxdesign.cc/fundamental-human-needs-design-collaboration-f639931e368b
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
At the risk of sounding like “Captain obvious” collaboration is essential to Design. You might be thinking “yeah of course!” But let’s dive into ways Design is synonymous with collaboration.
(I will be using. “Big D” Design to refer to the vast number of roles from Product/CX/UX/UI/IxD/Visual Design and beyond)
Collaboration review
col·lab·o·ra·tion/kəˌlabəˈrāSH(ə)n/nounThe action of working with someone to produce or create something.
Collaboration along with creativity are skills that keep human’s at the top of the food chain and is a deeply human capacity. However, collaboration is not inherited equality by all humans. Collaboration is a learned skill that happens over a lifetime and as a skill it needs to be practiced, adapted to your time, and integrated deep into education processes, and made essential in problem-solving experiences.
If you are a Designer you might already know this but all Design is a team endeavor and especially software as the ability of a designer + developer + business stakeholder + users to accomplish tasks successfully with software is deeply connected to collaborating on a solution.
Fundamental human needs are supported by collaboration
Collaboration is essential to being a Designer. Collaboration is what I like to call a “meta-skill” as it operates as connective tissue between all the other skills used to solve Design problems. Let’s look at the taxonomy of fundamental human needs by Manfred Max-Neef and his work on Human Scale Development, all the fundamental skill outlined are supported or made possible through collaboration.
I believe these fundamental needs also should include 21st-century need with elements of the internet, wifi, transportation, and technology. Either way, all these fundamental needs are either supported by collaboration or are essential to collaborating. Let’s break down each and how a Designer can advocate for collaboration using that need.
Subsistence (Nutrition) — The ability of humans to at minimum survive through food and water. Food is deeply collaborative just watch any restaurant Chef and kitchen from the dishwasher to waiters serve customers. Designers have much to learn from chefs about making a process deliver an outcome. Designers should also consider their hunger levels when collaborating in workshops or team brainstorming. Keeping a team fed can foster better ideas and keep “hanger” (anger arising from being hungry) from squishing any positive collaboration interactions.
Protection (Shelter) — The ability of humans to protect themselves from the harshness of nature. We build shelters and collaborate with specialized skills to combine materials together and without Architects, Structural Engineers, Contractors, Carpenters, and material resources protection would be difficult to produce. All those specialty makers collaborate together to make sure we have protection and Design has a huge role to play in making sure those spaces not only allow protection but encourage and foster collaboration. This doesn’t necessarily mean a “open office” but it can equal design spaces for collaboration. With the increase in remote and hybrid work models how our workspaces address this collaboration gap is a huge opportunity for designers to exert their value and help catalyze collaboration.
Affection (Love) — The ability of humans to care for each other and support their success and emotional well-being. Love is better when it is collaborative and amplifies its power together. Ask anyone who is in “love” and they will say how meaningful it is to share with another person. Designers should love themselves and be able to bring their whole person to solutions for their teams. The idea the good works should “love” their work and that may very will be true for some however designer should find ways to love collaborating. Be vocal about your affection for ways collaboration works because Designer should love to collaborate.
Understanding (Empathy) — The ability of humans to share knowledge and relate to each other’s emotions. Collaborations is the practice of empathy and we can place ourselves through someone else’s shoes through experience. Design is impossible without empathy and collaboration with users, team members, and businesses which makes understanding possible. Designers have a unique opportunity to drive empathy for their users and use collaboration to practice what we preach about human-centered design.
Participation (Community) — The ability of humans to share a social group based on locality, religious, occupational, cultural heritage, government affiliation, common interest et cetera to believe in similar goals for an individual and for the group. Community is predicated on collaboration as participation in a community is the act of collaborating. Designers should want to share their ideas and participate in the process without it there is no community and thus no understanding. Designers have a unique roll to play in extending their participation and designing collaboration moments not just with other Designers but between them and “non” designers. Designer ability to facilitate collaboration between community partners will build better and stronger paths of participation and extend the value designers can bring to the community.
Leisure (Rest) — The ability of humans to relax and gain energy. We all need to sleep and humans have to collaborate in facilitating that leisure and rest time. Make sure to take your vacation, if you don’t sleep great try and create a routine, rest is essential to being creative. Sleep and rest also require collaboration with your neighbors to be quiet, and family to make sure rest occurs, and spaces where rest can happen. If rest does not occur then collaboration will suffer. It seems so simple but Designers need to sleep, especially if you know you will be asked to collaborate effectively. If Designers can get good sleep they can bring all that energy to collaborating effectively so they can go to sleep tired and ready to do it all over again.
Idleness (Day-dreaming) — The ability of humans to be curious, and recall old times, and to use their free time for aspect of play or open contemplation rather than focus on tasks at hand. Designers should advocate for “empty space” and look to design in opportunities to practice being idol. If you work with a team collaborating does not have to be synchronous, giving your team member “room” to be idol or “space” to figure out a problem can be just as valuable as sharing time together to solve problems. Our technology world works against idleness and tries to fill every waking hour or sleepless night with more content. However, this illumination of idleness can be bad for Designers who are working on difficult problems or who need “space” to be curious and make connections while being creative. Collaboration facilities this idleness as it is an active choice to not fill our schedules. We all know that person whose job is filled brim to brim with meetings and we all know how that leads to “burn out”. If you are lucky enough to work in Design, work to value your “idol time” as it can and will fuel your collaboration. Designers should advocate not only for dedicated work time but also for “nothing time” as the creative problem solving process needs a day-dreaming aspect.
Creation (Goals) — The ability of humans to make and solve problems. Creation is the execution of using creative skills and can be amplified through collaborative engagement. Designers should advocate for as much creation in their process as possible whether that be prototype first, or brainstorming workshops, or infusing play into their teams. Connected with idleness, creation is the act of making and designer who can make on command and can work through problems. Collaborative creation doesn’t just happen, it needs to be designed and nurtured so that it can thrive. Designers have a unique opportunity to build a creation culture at their organizations but this requires leaning into collaborative processes and collaborative tools.
Identity (Self-worth) — The ability of humans to have confidence and be able to work within teams to solve problems. Creation and creative skills can be amplified through collaborative practice. A designers ability to use their skills is connected to their own self-worth and the value they bring to a team and in turn their role in a community. Collaboration is an identity feedback loop that can improve the self-worth of each participating party. If you practice collaborating you will see it improves your own self worth and Designers can equally improve their confidence and trust in how collaboration will help solve problems.
Freedom (Movement and Thought) — The ability of humans to form their own opinions as well as the ability of them to share and articulate their positions without rebuke or threat of violence. Freedom is an illusive concept that can be hard to pin down as it is connected to so many other fundamental needs. For example, there is freedom in owning a shelter but if your state or government falls apart so goes your freedom and likely your shelter. Design, creativity, and collaboration are deeply affected by the amount of freedom a team is afforded. Creativity and freedom also have a significant amount of interplay as the ability to consider possibilities and implement change is directly connected with a designers ability to have the freedom to make that change in the first place. Collaboration is itself a type of freedom and Design teams should nurture and make sure they are given that freedom in their roles and importantly in their budgets.
Why Designers should advocate for the largest amount of collaboration possible.
Now that we have covered the fundamental human needs I hope is clear how intertwined collaboration is to those needs and in turn with Design. Now it is on Designers to advocate, educate, and facilitate as much collaboration between themselves and their “not designer” teammates as possible.
If you are in a design leadership position at your organization, look hard at your budgets and make sure your design teams are allocated resources that amplify collaboration and not just more “conference rooms” and “zoom calls” I mean cross-functional idea jam sessions that are guided by collaboration experts as well as new and interesting collaboration tools. Make sure your designers are tasked out to collaborate with “non-designers” and that they are spending time every week with their “actual” users.
If you are just a designer as part of a team. Bring collaboration ideas and workshop methods to your leadership and advocate that you and your colleague “get time” with your users as well as time working with developers or with your business partners or with your clients directly. Practice collaboration everyday and design collaboration workshops so that when you get the opportunity to design together you can demonstrate your value and get the most out of collaborating in the first place.
Here is an example of a collaborative mind-mapping activity using Figma/Figjam for you to use:
Conclusion:
Humans’ needs are fundamentally connected to collaboration and if Designers bring the values of collaboration to your whole organization then we all can win, hopefully, because working together is more fun anyway.
Join the conversation and share your collaboration resources, and stories.
Recommend
About Joyk
Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK