DIAGNOSING IN DESIGN.

The more and more I take on projects with clients, the more I see that my role as a designer is so heavily rooted in the act of diagnosing. What do I mean by this? We tend to think of ‘diagnosing’ as primarily linked with the world of medicine, a doctor has a patient come in with an ailment, often describing what they think is wrong, the doctor does some investigating and find the right course of action for the patient.

Now this seems pretty straightforward, the patient has a condition, the doctor uses his expertise to diagnose and in diagnosing select the best treatment. Now I know I don’t have the knowledge or authority to cast the same judgement to someone in a doctor’s surgery, but as a designer we are always met with a creative ailment. This analogy of a doctor and their patient is such a helpful way of grounding the core elements of problem solving, which the under-pining of so much we do as creatives.

These ailments can range from a dangerous loss of brand identity, a severed strategy, a loss of creative direction or content anemia. Some client’s problems are blarringly obvious to anyone with working eyes, like a guy in A&E with a Terry Butcher-styled bloody head. The problem is clear, and the solution often is tried and tested, a few stitches, strong painkiller and a day off work. Some client’s problems are much more subtle and resemble internal bleeding, which calls for often deeper examination. the problem is clearly causing the client pain but we can’t see where the issue is stemming from.

Designers often have the issue of being met with clients that self diagnose their problems. Now don’t get me wrong if someone has an arm hanging off, their self diagnosis of the problem will be treaty sound… I mean their arm is hanging off. But for problems that are a bit more subtle or are somewhat unclear, self diagnosis can come up with the worst treatments. The biggest problem for young designers is that often a clients self diagnosis trumps our educated and correct diagnosis. Therefore when we offer treatment is it refused or not taken seriously.

Trust can also be a big issue. Does the client trust me enough to listen to what I have diagnosed and take on board the treatment required? Like most people I trust my doctor, I know that they have trained a for a huge amount of time and have been through situations similar to whatever I might have wrong with me. What might seem new and scary for me, is routine for them. So as a designer creating a level of trust that allows our steps to be taken seriously is crucial.

We find the most crucial time in a project is the first stage. Like any good surgeon prepping for surgery is paramount. The stakes are high and having the right plan of action will save a life instead of be the reason for loss of life. This is the same for a brand, nailing the first stage of diagnosing the problem will mean that the right course of action is taken. It would be wrong to lump the same process of design onto every project. The work might be done ‘correctly’ but if it doesn’t actually solve the problem then it’s useless. A doctor could perform a perfect heart transplant without realising it was the kidney that needed replacing. Kudos for being able to do a heart transplant, dummy.

Prep that focuses the attention of the work will save businesses having raking out large amount of money for work that won’t solve their ailments. It may look like the right thing on the surface but won’t last long.

This is why we put so much emphasis on prepping for design work. Any branding project I undertake has a solid foundation of discovery session, getting at the heart of the issue before we touch any design work. Everything else follows from this starting point, every move is planned and tested, refined and weighed with your main brand’s needs at the heart of every step.

We offer this service for any business that knows they aren’t performing how they should. Whether that’s a blaring issue or something that needs deeper attention we can cover it. If you are interested in having a consultation for your business get in touch and we can get the ball rolling.

Does the client trust me enough to listen to what I have diagnosed and take on board the treatment required?