I thoroughly enjoy working with designers. They are quirky, eclectic and always interesting. But most of all, I enjoy working with them because they think visually.
What does that mean?
When they describe a problem, they give themselves permission to draw. They sketch ideas out. They use post-it notes and whiteboards.
This is valuable because there’s no confusion about what their ideas are. I can literally see it. This means I can spend time adding to their ideas, rather than trying to understand them.
How many times have you sat in a meeting and wondered: “What the hell are they saying? I just can’t see what they’re talking about.” Well, drawing it out on a whiteboard solves that problem.
Now what if you can’t draw?
Well, I’m no artist, but I think I can draw a good stick figure. And surprisingly, stick figures help you understand that you’re trying to solve a real person’s problem. It’s easy to get distracted with the numbers and forget that you’re solving for people.
This is one of the reasons that blogs like waitbutwhy.com have such a cult following. The authors use their stick figures to explain very difficult topics. And that ensures that everyone “gets” it.
For me the challenge isn’t, “Can you think visually?” We all know you can. Anyone can draw a stick figure, circle, triangle and a square.
The question is: Will you?
A New Source Code 