Our Responsibility as Designers

As designers, we have an important responsibility. Never before has our role in shaping our surroundings been as important as it is today. No longer can the impact we have be measured solely by how our work looks, or how clearly it communicates to one intended audience. Today, designers are ethnographers. We are agents of change and cultural architects. We provide navigation for the most complex of interactions.

We are creators of social awareness and amplifiers of political, cultural and corporate voices. Our way of thinking (design thinking) is a valuable new commodity, even across the blurred lines that once divided many disciplines. We are asked to guide, consult and innovate while being cost-conscious, efficient and timely. We are expected to inform, improve and rebuild while we are also called on to be pragmatic, sustainable and green.

To be a designer today is to take on the responsibility of proving our value by seeking knowledge and understanding needed to solve creative problems, regardless of medium.

When we do this in a socially responsible way, it has the power to give the work significant and lasting purpose and value.

On Tuesday, June 30, 2009, President Obama called our attention in a press conference to the importance of the work of non-profit organizations. The item from his remarks that spoke the loudest to me was the following:

So if anyone out there is waiting for government to solve all their problems, they’re going to be disappointed.  Because ultimately, the best solutions don’t come from the top-down, not from Washington; they come from the bottom-up in each and everyone one of our communities.

This sounds like a clear call to me. Regardless of your party affiliation, view on the war, policy, etc, one thing is hard to debate – we need non profits to thrive. Throughout our varied communities, there exists in these organizations a strong spirit of tenacity and the drive to face severe adversity to make our surroundings better, safer and equal.

From my perspective—as has been the case throughout my career—we always assert that we aim to address our clients’ “unique needs.” For many clients I have interaction with, this means they have very little resources–that’s their unique need. I believe it’s important to consider how we might help these clients in ways that might help position them for improvement, which brings me to the “give it away” part.

How I Learned To Let Go And Give It Away

I remember the first pro bono work I did. I didn’t necessarily want to do it – in fact, I sent the client an estimate for the project with the expectation that they would either accept it and pay, or balk at the estimated costs and decline the project.

I was surprised by their reaction to the costs – they responded, “Well, we think this estimate is more than fair…but we can only afford to pay about half of it against to our budget. Would you consider donating the other half.”

Admittedly, I wasn’t so much surprised by their reaction to the estimated costs as I was to their request that I donate the other half. Plenty of clients have asked me to come down and reduce the costs, but very few have ever admitted that while the costs seemed fair to them, they could not afford to pay them, and they did not want to ask me to reduce them. There seemed to be a refreshing honesty in this back and forth to me. Then it hit me – by keeping my estimate honest and fair, and the dialog open and respectful regarding what could fit into their planned budget, it was possible for me to see the potential value in what would result from the success of the project. If I help them by giving them just a bit, I would help position them for greater success down the road, ultimately leading them to a place where paying the full fare would be far less of an issue.

And it worked. As a result of our project together, things improved for them as an organization. Volunteer rates were up. Donor rates and financial stability increased as per the objective. The next project we did together was billed for in its entirety…no questions asked.

The moral of this story is – by setting clear expectations, give a little away to the clients who need it most. It helps get them started off on the right foot, it helps quickly get them positioned for progress they would otherwise not have the opportunity to make – and as an added bonus – it feels pretty good.

Take your responsibility seriously and call that client now. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it.