In this past month, Figma Config 2021 might have been the biggest gig in the design community. It’s great to tune in, listen to inspiring talks, and learn about FigJam to level up your next brainstorm session. Tools are always evolving, and so are our ways of thinking. The three books of this month share heuristic discoveries about design, from applying a just cause to a real-world business (Patagonia), designing an inclusive team culture and process, to understanding the psychological irrationality behind pricing.
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
It’s almost impossible to avoid Patagonia living in Silicon Valley. Even if you are a homebody, Patagonia will probably make its way to you through employee perks. Branded T-shirts, hoodies, and zip-up vests, Patagonia stands out to keep you warm against San Francisco breezes and remain as a low-profile fashion choice.
In this book, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia took us through his transformative journey to empower informed shopping decisions — “The more you now, the less you need.” First known by selling rugby shirts on a winter climbing trip in 1970, Chouinard keeps “functionality” front and center in his product design philosophies. In his core concentric circle, in which foundational design decisions are made, stands a customer who can’t afford Patagonia products.
Don’t spend money on gear. Spend it on airplane tickets.
Speaks Audrey Sutherland, who spent her life adventuring inflatable kayak trips.
It contradicts to our common notion that business favors high-valued customers who drive the highest margins and returns. The implication of chasing unlimited profits, is to burn out limited ecological resources the earth can offer. Chouinard and Patagonia, found the just cause to challenge, and change the culture of consumption.
Liftoff!: Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You
About a year ago when I started my mentoring, my manager advised me to read and take courses alongside practicing mentoring. In the design leadership and management space, this book supported my learning as an addition to Julie Zhuo’s The Making of a Manager. In this role transition, I learned a ton from hiring designers, supporting junior professionals, and acting as a team charter to bring creative individuals together. The biggest and foremost challenge in my experience, was to change my perspective from designing (which is an endless love ❤️), to observing how design occurs. This book helped me greatly in two ways:
A refreshed understanding of a designer leveling chart is not a checklist.
Granted that I put on a new title after a promotion. On the second day, my professional life will not be significantly advanced without knowing what broader behaviors I shall carry to make sounded decisions in an expanded scope. A behavior change will take months to settle in, and it goes beyond a day-in, day-out checklist task.
Influencing up from aligning a design outcome & output to a company goal.
For a long time, I was fixated to this quality, quantity mentality that emphasizes on design outputs, such as research, customer journey maps, and prototypes. Naturally, this output-driven mentality directed my full attention to deliver designs, rather than to think deeply about what alignment I create through those design outputs. What I’ve missed (thankfully, this mindset has been turned around), is to understand what output suffices the goal. Sometimes, the output can be as simple as a prototype.
Handbook on the Psychology of Pricing: 100+ effects on persuasion and influence every entrepreneur, marketer and pricing manager needs to know
I had this book for while when I was designing in the e-commerce space. This book was mesmerizing to make me realize how little I know about pricing, as well as its psychological effects. To distill some take-aways for designers, the most notable aspect is to keep congruency effect in mind. For example, it’s easier to recognize a headline-sized number that carries the largest numerical value, than to parse numbers equally presented in the same font size, or to pick a larger number presented in a small font size.
There are more studies in this book that reveal why birthday numbers, rounded prices, and discounts drive positive results with purchases, as well as heuristic observations such as we like numbers when they remind us of ourselves. Noting that the author of this book Markus Husemann-Kopetzky structured his academic findings to inform pricing-makers, some generic guiding tips can be helpful in one context and disruptive in another.
