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For any new designers entering the field, we’re all told that if you do the work, take the courses, make the portfolios, grind, and practice you’ll get the job. Even if you do all of the above, there is an element that gets glossed over. We forget to consider a crucial element in the practice of design: developing a “sense of taste”.
This can be hard to explain because the concept revolves around something that isn’t physical or the outcome is difficult to measure. As woo-woo as this may sound, it’s developing that “sixth sense” or understanding of how the elements of design work together. It’s similar to how you develop your favorite style in clothing or the vibe you’re going for when decorating your home. There is an element of visuals and aesthetics, but a need for functionality, flow, and feeling…..you know taste.
One of the most popular quotes that you will hear when it comes to creative works and taste is from Ira Glass. (It’s a bit of a long one, but it’s a good one!)
He says:
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work…It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
Ira Glass
How do you build taste as a product designer?
Some people are fortunate enough to have good taste that comes naturally to them. I also believe it’s not binary (i.e. you have it or you don't). We all have different levels of taste, and depending on where we are, some may need to take more time to mold and refine than others.
Let’s look at a small part of the mentioned quote from Ira Glass,
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.
Ira Glass
Taste requires time and for anyone who wants to be quick to transition in design, it can seem daunting to know how to use that time. It’s going to take work, consistency, and dedication to get to the level where your work is *good. People who come from other types of design backgrounds like graphic design, architecture, etc. tend to transition easier into digital product/UX design. The hard skills needed are the initial barriers, but they’ve had more time to develop their taste.
Building taste is an exercise. It takes practice to develop and there are three aspects of developing taste to get to a level that suits your ambitions.
The 3 Parts:
Mimicry
Dissection
Experimentation
*Good is a subjective term. Like taste, it can be subjective.
Mimicry
You’d be surprised with how much you’re consuming, processing, and realizing what you like and don’t like in your day-to-day. The best way to start is to see what is already out there. Look at all the different websites, mobile apps, web apps, kiosks, and other digital product experiences that you encounter. What is an experience that you enjoy interacting with?
If there is an experience, interface, or product that stands out to you, take those screens, interactions, etc., and copy them pixel by pixel. Open up your Inspector tool or add the Chrome extension CSS Peeper and figure out how these experiences are designed and re-create them in Figma, Sketch, or whatever design tool of your choice.
At the start of anything, having boundaries are needed. You may be wondering, where is the creativity in all this? During this stage, your ideas are going to come off as unoriginal. What mimicry allows you to focus on is the physical technique + craft, so you can exercise your muscles to understand what it takes to execute your good taste.
Dissecting
While executing the designs you’re mimicking, it isn’t a mindless act. You’ll need to start “dissecting” or studying what is being done. Look at the typography, color, layout, flow, and interaction choice when reviewing these experiences and contemplate the decisions that were made.
Some questions to ask yourself:
What techniques am I learning and can take with me as I build out other experiences?
How does the layout here accomplish a person’s goal?
How is spacing, padding, margins, etc. being used here?
How is typography and its hierarchy used in this situation? What is it trying to communicate?
How does the interaction chosen here impact the experience?
What colors are being used to communicate the experience across the product and how are they being used to communicate?
You start to understand the inner working of how everything flows together. You’re enhancing your technique, you’re embracing the flows….. you’re growing and understanding the how and why to your taste.
Austin Kleon says is best in his book “Steal Like an Artist”.
He says:
“What to copy is a little bit trickier. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.”
Austin Kleon
Which is how mimicry and dissecting work together.
Experimentation
At a certain point, you’ll have an itch to experiment. This is when you start to mix and match things you’ve learned and figure out new ways to create digital experiences. You begin to figure out and understand what works together and what doesn’t. You’re taking techniques and pieces you’ve learned previously and incorporating them into your work and defining your process. It’s almost like a lightbulb goes off and you have a clearer understanding of your own taste and the how and why you approach design in the way you do.
Taste over Time
As previously mentioned, developing taste takes time. This isn’t something that happens overnight and it’s not something that stops even after you’ve become a “pro” or a “senior”.
At one point in your life, you may lean into more dissecting and experimentation than a need for mimicry. There will be an ebb and flow happening, depending on what kind of craft and elements of the craft you’re learning.
For example (I always love to use food analogies) if you’re a well-known chef for French cuisine, but you want to learn Japanese cuisine, you’re probably gonna need to go back and mimic Japanese recipes to start. The process might be quicker though just because you’ve developed your taste and technique from your French culinary background. You’d adjust with the tools and knowledge you have and apply it to learning Japanese cuisine.
What does that mean for you as a designer?
Let’s say you just finished your boot camp, a recent graduate from college, or someone who is figuring out whether or not they want to make the leap into product design. I get it, it can be overwhelming, to say the least, to know what to do or know what’s next especially when it can be out of your control.
Let’s bring back this quote:
“It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.”
Ira Glass
At the end of the day, keep on creating.
If you plan to be a practitioner of product design continue to do what a designer does. You don’t only want to know how to design but how to think like a designer. Understand the how and ask the why. Take the time to design with intention and curiosity. At a certain point, you’ll begin to see your own interpretations, creative thinking, and your taste unfold before you.