Designers have a bigger problem being done than most.

 

Coming to the end of sprint or cycle is a joyous occasion for most of the feature team typically, but I’ve found it more difficult for Designers. We as a discipline are driven to get things right and apply our passion to making it so. That makes being done a challenge sometimes. The finality of it is visceral to some.

“Shipping is deciding. Shipping is choosing. Shipping is saying NO.”

We’ve all heard these statements in triage and the war room. It’s a natural and expected outcome of the closing phase in every project.

Can we as Designers be OK with being done? It not, we risk distracting and disrupting the rest of our teams from doing what they need to do – be done. Does that mean we turn a blind eye to the problems we still see? No. But, we need to deal with them differently in the final phase of project, and perhaps more importantly we must make peace with the thousands of decisions that have lead up to this point.

We often see the imperfections in our work and not the beauty or advancement that is so clear to the rest of the world.

Time to put the pen down and appreciate what you’ve accomplished.