Figure01: PostIt Note Designer.

You know me!

You have seen me around your office. I look smart, usually wearing shiny white trainers combined with dark trousers rolled up a bit so that you can see my expensive socks — casual and expensive T-Shirt of one Pantone® colour and Oliver People’s glasses to look smart.

Beyond anything, I carry a PostIt® note with me and an expensive marker so that I can ask the right questions — the type of questions that no one really has an answer to.
Then write them down and stack them on the wall so that everyone can see my daily accomplishments.

Figure02: The Question

The Question

Yes, that’s right; my career accomplishment is to ask a lot of questions. I often start my sentences with:

“Excuse me; this might sound like a really silly question, but …”

The type of question that makes everyone slightly uncomfortable and itchy.
The kind of question that others wanted to ask too but did not have the courage to.
These are the type of questions that help my career grow from zero to hero in every meeting I go to — the question about the processes, data points, transformation of businesses and most importantly, the user.

Yes, the user is my biggest ally, my most excellent buddy.

Figure03: Meet my buddy, my precious user.

The User

I never met the bloke myself; I don’t know what they want or what they accomplished nor what their desires or ambitions are. This allows me to think or say anything I want, and no one will ever question me as everybody knows who is our users and what they want, right?

More importantly, I can refer to them as “business users”, the type of user that all businesses love to have — someone who constantly checks our products and buy them at least three times a day. An ideal user who helps me facilitate several meetings and help me and my career grow to become a service design specialist.

It inevitably allows me to ask questions about business and development, the area of expertise that I have no clue about at all. Whether I’m in banking, health care, broadcasting, education, transportation and logistics, or I have chosen the agency, I’m a kind of a unicorn designer, and I can go and question it all.

Figure04: Success Matrix

My Career

My design career is astonishing — I haven’t designed a page, brand, layout, concept, or even the primitive navigational or behavioural model. Neither code a simple HTML page with a linked CCS, don’t be silly; that’s beneath me.

However, I’m an expert on having a profound opinion on it all.

My career is based on three pillars: precision, clarity and a strong point of view. The Precision of knowing when and how to ask the question no one has answered to. Most likely, the one that is not related to the project I’m involved in. The Clarity of positioning myself out of the proposition and strategically remaining as a thought-leader so that I can give strategic pieces of advice. Undoubtedly, bringing the best of my colleagues (as I do not how to deliver anything ) so others can thrive and do the work for me. Finally, I have a strong point of view about design and design function. All my little notes fit into frameworks and buzzwords that no one understands but all believe bring value to the business.

Figure04: Double Diamond Dilemma

The ultimate method

I practically live and breathe “the double diamond” (invented in 1996 by the American-Hungarian researcher to explain the process of ‘Designing Social Systems in a Changing World’, which the UK’s Design Council later interpreted as a delivery method for Design Agencies)[01].
But heck, I use it for 21-century product design development anyway.

And if this does not work, I’ll use other buzzwords like user-centred design and service design thinking; they all have recognition and sell well as they are backed up and used by big agencies that have designers’ admiration.

That’s what my boss and her/his colleagues love about me. I can always find a way to keep the design in the game and make it look important. Instead of building partnerships with the development/delivery function, I build a coalition with businesses that has no influence or connection to my project so I can justify how big the problem really is. This eventually led to a bigger budget and more silos and separation to keep my ownership intact.

I have accomplished the first experience map — which, BTW. I’ve copied from my colleague in a different business unit who copied from someone else.
Who cares? I just need to replace the old copy with my post-it notes. To do this, I still need this graphics designer bloke to help me with this stuff:

I’m the Post-It note designer. I don’t do production; I only ask smart questions!

When you spot me, ask me for a coffee!

I never say no — I’m happy to chat with anyone. I’m a loner, I never really accomplished anything and never really will. Artificial friendship and gossip surrounded by chatter keep me in the game. The things I make are complex as they come.

Without me, the design will be pretty straightforward, transparent, and well-organised discipline supported by all functions within the business. And that my friends will be super boring.

“I hope you enjoyed this satirical approach to the overall Postit® note design — please share your thoughts and anecdotical situation you’ve come across“

Stay tuned; thanks for reading!

Jiri Mocicka is a London-based designer, writer, and design coach passionate about Design at Scale. A flexible method that allows designers professionals to integrate the value of design within their organisation through transparency and well-communicated product design development. Visual stories @designatscaletm. Direct messages and questions, please follow: @designatscaletm