Who needs design frameworks?

Telling me your design process, tells me nothing.

This is a story about the current state of design across the tech industry. It’s about the countless times that I’ve heard job candidates saying that they successfully apply Design Thinking or the double diamond into their day-to-day design problems. It’s about “thinking” getting mainstream.

Let me be clear. I find frameworks really useful. It’s the best way we got to concentrate our knowledge, to put things in order and communicate what we are doing to peers or stakeholders in a more concrete way. I have done that and will continue to do so.

But since when, applying some structure and some buzz words to nonsense is more important than real hard work thinking?

Whether it is Lean UX, JTBD, Design Thinking, Design Sprint, Double Diamond, UCD or any other, frameworks were built to communicate a process that was already in place or to provide some alternatives depending on the type of work or the availability of time. What they were not meant to do, is transform anyone into a capable designer. In our days, is very easy to read 100 posts like this one οn Medium and assume that following the “book” will certainly lead you to success.

No matter how many frameworks you apply, what takes you from this…

to this,

is hard work thinking outside of any framework.

Good design is about questioning everything to uncover the route cause, understanding what people need and want besides what they tell you and focus on improving the tiniest details.

Good designers are the ones with the right mindset, not the right methodology. Next time you interview someone question that, not their Medium memory.

Do you agree, or am Ι the only one getting this feeling lately? Please comment.