VII. Algunas cifras
5. Discursos que legitiman. Las opiniones del PDI
When We Build, Build Conference Talk; Photo, Filly Campbell
Wilson Miner | Designer, Facebook | San Francisco, CA
Can you give us a little bit about your background and how you came to design?
I’ve been playing around on computers since I was old enough to use one. My dad used to get these educational kids’ games for the Apple II, so I say I learned to read from computer games.
When I was about 10 years old, my dad got me a game called Cosmic Osmo — a kids’ game made by Cyan, the people who went on to make Myst.
It was made with HyperCard, this amazing software for the Mac that was kind of a precursor to the web. Everything was based on a metaphor of a stack of ‘cards,’ and you could build all kinds of things — from databases to games — by linking the cards together and scripting all kinds of actions. My dad bought a copy of HyperCard, and I spent hours making half-finished adventure games with terrible jokes and really bad art. But I think that’s really what got me started in what we think of now as interaction design.
Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?
Have you always wanted to be in ownership of your work?
I don’t think I have the entrepreneurship gene.
I’m not good at pitching things, and I’m not fueled by the excitement of risk the way some people are — it just feeds into my anxiety and makes it hard for me to focus on what I do enjoy, which is working on a product.
Wilson Miner believes that we have the power and the tools to change the world. He believes that design comprises the choices we make about the world we want to live in, and that we make our world what it is and in turn become the kind of people who live in it. Wilson crafted web experiences as interactive designer for Apple and as the head of design at Rdio, a digital music service. He currently works as a digital product designer at Facebook.
Wilson’s work has helped highlight the importance of a product’s design — whether the product is a web framework or social network.
He understands that we need to think broadly about the world, what we build, and how we learn the skills we need to create meaningful work.
“To design anything useful, you need to understand how the world works.”
73 72 Wilson Miner | Be Curious, and Ask Questions
Independence and ownership are great, but there’s a lot of energy that goes into other things when you’re out there on your own.
How important is writing to your practice?
I’ve actually kind of given up on writing, at least publicly on a blog. I started a blog as an excuse to have a site of my own to play with new designs outside of client work. The writing was just something to do to fill it in with content.
Writing is a great discipline, and over the years I’ve written one or two things I’m still proud of, but it’s just not something I gravitate to as much anymore, at least in that format.
Do you think now more than ever, it’s important for the design community to write, share their perspectives and engage the larger design community?
I do. I think sharing ideas and an articulate debate is always important but especially in times of change. There are some great voices emerging in the design community and some great new outlets for them, such as The Manual, Contents magazine or Offscreen magazine.
These are carefully crafted collections with a distinct editorial perspective and a real attention to refining the content — they don’t just churn out posts and click ‘publish.’
You’ve spent a lot of time crafting new platforms, and you’ve redesigned existing platforms. We’re interested in new platforms for the design community to share meaningful dialogue, share their perspectives and engage the design community. What are your thoughts on what some of these platforms could be?
I love that we’re writing and publishing physical magazines and journals about digital design. Kickstarter has been a huge part of that, and I think it’s also been an interesting platform itself for design ‘ dialogue ’ in the form of building actual physical products and putting
them out into the world. That’s a really articulate way to share a perspective on design:
Make something. Kickstarter creates an opportunity for new voices to participate in that kind of exchange of ideas by enabling people to create and share something they couldn’t have otherwise and also lets a whole community of people participate in the process who all really want to see that thing exist.
How have you seen design’s role change in the startup world over the years?
We’ve definitely crossed over a threshold in the startup world, where it’s an assumption that it’s a good idea to pay attention to design from the very beginning. But there’s still a big gap in understanding what that means and how to find designers who can contribute in a meaningful way to the early stages of product design. We have a responsibility as designers to step up to the plate here. We’re invited to the table now — we need to bring something to it.
Do you think the design of a product, tool or app should be integrated from day one?
Everything that happens in the early days of forming a product is design. You make choices about what a product is, how it will work and its architecture. These decisions will
fundamentally shape the product. This isn’t the sacred realm of people with ‘design’ in their job title — a lot of the most important design decisions happen in code — but I do think it helps to have a designer’s perspective as part of the conversation from the beginning.
Do you think it’s necessary for designers to be educated in business? Or is this something that can be learned as you go?
To design anything useful, you need to understand how the world works. That is not limited to business. You need to be curious;
you need to be observant, and you need to ask
questions — about everything. When We Build, Build Conference Talk; Photo, Filly Campbell
What excites you most about the future of design and the opportunities available to us in today’s technological landscape?
So many things are possible today that weren’t possible just two years ago — not just on the web. Screens are everywhere, and we can do so much with them, and our opportunity to have an impact is multiplying very quickly. I think about the industrial-design renaissance around the middle of the 20th century — the Eames, Dieter Rams — and I really think we’re at a point where we’re seeing a changing of the guard. The physical products are still really important, but in a lot of places, they’re receding into the background as the screen comes to the forefront.
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