Why do Designers alone get the privilege of a studio space?
Can’t they just sit with their Dev teams instead?
This has been a debatable question across hierarchies in corporates, and still continues to be contested. Do designers really need a studio? Is it worth the investment? Why spend all that money on creating a ‘fancy’ space with all those colourful couches, trendy looking huddle areas and what not? Isn’t it some sort of a special privilege?
Well, I’m a Product Designer and I’m going to try and take on the topic with this write up. The corporate that I work at, has design studios across global locations. The architecture and interiors are state-of-the-art. The seating and work desks are by Haworth and Featherlite. The moment one sets foot into the studio, you can’t help but notice a lot of whites (the universal choice for some reason). White walls, white hexagon shaped false ceiling, a white name board of the studio over a white background that is laser cut beautifully at the entrance (Believe me, I took up the job offer just for the name board!) and we also have a couple of walls with bricks to give the studio a rustic yet contemporary look. It also has a nice little podium with an LED TV set up, a high raise table that runs end-to-end with bar-stools for people to sit or stand while presenting stuff. Designers can remain seated at their workstations and participate during sessions or continue working if they choose to do so too. The space can accommodate about 30 designers at a given point in time. We also had a brainstorming and a white boarding zone, a couple of smaller rooms with seating for 4 people to attend conference calls, a ball shaped swing that is suspended from the ceiling for anyone to feel cuddled inside (it looks a bit more like what Miley Cyrus uses in ‘Wrecking Ball’). So, no comments there! But overall, its quite a beautiful studio space.
Now the question is, don’t we ever feel guilty for the special treatment that only we creatives are entitled too?
Well, there have been times I did feel we designers were a lucky bunch.. until offcourse the team that I was working for got spun out into a different business entity altogether. And that meant, I along with a hand full of designers had to move out of the current studio and sit with the development team and work together in an ‘Agile’ setup. Isn’t it the new(old) buzzword after all?.. Imagine the speed at which you could churn out screens when designers and developers are under the same roof? It’s great isn’t it? It certainly is in my opinion. But does that mean designers and developers ought to see each other’s faces the entire 8hours while at work? Now that’s where the debate begins.
Developers have a more convergent approach to work. They are super focused. While designers diverge most of the time and converge once in a while (or never)! Pun intended.
What do you think would happen if an Engineering Manager were to lead a group of designers? There’s no way this team is going to last a week right? Except for a few unfortunate ones. But the point here is, our working styles are totally different. What if I wanted to bounce ideas? Brainstorm with fellow designers working on other projects in order to get a different perspective?.. What if I wanted to take feedback on a new interaction, critique and debate on someone else’s workflow, need to clarify a basic doubt in lets say Sketch or Photoshop, share updates on the latest tech conferences, what happened at the last Google I/O.. how is Anushka’s passion for lettering coming along.. what was the process Ryan followed in order to file his design patent?.. What were Laxmi’s learnings from the user research she conducted at this remote town in Northern India?.. Bob’s story telling skills — the way he keeps everyone engaged is something isn’t it?.. What happens to all of this? Now that’s, when I began feeling like ‘a fish out of water!’
The organisation that I work for treats Design very seriously. Every piece of complex software that is engineered needs to be signed off by the design team before being released to the market. We have our own Design Language System in place to ensure uniformity in processes, frameworks and designs across domains be it enterprise systems for buildings, or the advanced tech used in the aerospace industry. The goal is to basically get the team to spend more time innovating than on re-inventing the wheel. A simple example would be, if I were to create a storyboard to help visualise a scenario, I just need to access a library of illustrations created by my fellow designers and modify them based on my context. And, if I were to create a new piece of illustration, I’d contribute to the same library so that somebody else could pick it up if necessary. So what just happened? Rather than spending the entire week illustrating the scene, I was able to focus on the narrative and spend more time designing instead.
This is one of the main reasons I believe it’s best for every designer to be at a closer proximity to their fellow designers and have their own studio space. It is easier to just walk to the guy who specialises in something and get it clarified in person than connect virtually and access stuff over email.
So does that rule out the need for designers to sit next to their development teams and work in silo?
No, absolutely not! It is your responsibility to make yourself available every time your team needs you. I meet my developers, scrum masters and product owners almost every single day to ensure there are no dependencies or risks due to assumptions or lethargy. We used to be just 4 floors away. So every time someone had a doubt, either of us would just take the elevator and resolve the issue in person.
Great! But that doesn’t justify the need for a fancy studio space. Well, I do agree we do not need all that luxury to be honest. What’s more important is for a studio space that serves its purpose.
There’s no point having a super-sophisticated world class studio where designers don’t talk or collaborate with each other right?
I’d rather work in a ‘garage-like’ space (I did work at one) where all my colleagues are having fun, inspiring one and another and passing on a culture of friendship, teamwork and zero bullsh*t, than work at a place that has no soul.
And organisations today are doing everything they can to help foster this culture amidst their design teams especially. If that means building a world class facility and beer every Friday, so be it! That’s the best a company can do, but building a culture, is upto the designers in the studio. The goal at the end of the day is to inspire creatives to create a better world. And, if your firm is providing you all this, isn’t it a good thing?
But what’s funny is, we designers would still have something to complain about. We would crib about projects, work culture, compensation, our leadership, how that one manager used to be super awesome.. how that one bookshelf ruins the look of the entire space, how f**** up this car manufacture’s latest release was and the list goes on.. We designers aren’t a satisfied lot! We usually have an issue with almost everything in the universe. Guess that’s just us being ‘Us’. So you don’t necessarily have to take us seriously you know?! ;)
On the contrary, I guess the world’s a better place coz somebody is cribbing about something somewhere and is doing everything possible to fix it. Be assured, that guy is from our tribe, and he or she sure deserves a decent space to work. Don’t you agree?
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About the Author
Kasinatha Rao is a Product Designer , focussing primarily on User Experience. He is also passionate about Documentary film making.
