作者：Livio De La Cruz

作为班级课题任务，即创造一个二维码广告，我制作了上图的几张海报，并将其贡献给了我的Game Developers Club。

collection(from livio-gam-blog)

制作这些海报总会让我想起高中3年的图像设计学习过程。那时候学校为我们安排了4年的图像设计选修课，并且都是由同一个老师进行授课。但是因为我是在二年级才转到这间学校，所以我只有3年的学习时间。

在课上我掌握了一个最重要也是最普遍的技能：如何站在设计师的角度进行思考。这一技能不仅能够帮助我制作网站，同时也能够提高我的演说，摄影，写作以及游戏设计能力。

而我将通过这篇文章分析这一课程是如何教会我这种技能，从而帮助你学会以设计师角度去思考问题。

教学风格

我发现我最喜欢同时也是最出色的老师都是一些善良，理解力强且擅于鼓励学生的人。但是我的图像设计老师却是完全相反的类型。

在提供项目反馈意见时她总是非常残忍无情，特别是当你的作业出现较大的设计缺陷时。这种教学风格的确非常有效，总是能够让我们从课上吸取一些重要的教训。

聆听自己的设计

有时候我们会收到非常严厉的评价，这时候我们就需要想办法从自己身上找出设计问题，而不是等着老师去“宰割”自己的作业。随着我们对于图像设计的理解不断上升，我们便能够基于更深的层面去思考自己的设计。

而这一技能也就是“聆听自己的设计”。也就是这时候你将从多个角度着眼于设计并从中找出各种优劣元素。当你获得看经验并了解自己的特殊设计领域时，你将更加清楚该聆听哪些意见。其中你还需要聆听一些微妙的方法，如设计将带给你何种感受并从中找到原因。

设计师解决问题

当设计师在与非设计师（通常是他们的客户）讨论设计问题时，非设计师总是会执拗于一些设计师认为不可取的内容。例如，网页设计师会花半个小时去设定最合适的页面导航元素的间距，但是非设计师则会认为用户根本不在意间距问题。

但是事实上用户却会在意这个问题，只是他们未能意识到这些小细节将如何影响自己的页面体验。间距的设定将影响页面带给用户的感受（是否会杂乱），并最终影响网页的公开性与用户友好性。

更改这些小细节也将引起其它问题的出现，如基于一定的监视器清晰度来看导航所占的屏幕空间过大等。而这一问题的复杂性便说明我们需要投入更多时间去解决它，同时也说明了设计师工作的真正本质。设计师并不只是一天到晚想出创意理念便可，他们同样也需要去找出并解决设计问题，从而更好地优化产品与最终用户间的关系。

管理问题

我们并不可能解决所有的设计问题。并且设计师也总会陷入一些设计困境，即一个问题的所有解决方法有可能再次引出更多问题。

设计师总是会花大量的时间在解决这些问题并尝试着去克服设计困境。而因为每个项目都有时间和资源限制，所以设计师必须适当管理并区分到底该完善哪些缺陷。但事实上这比听起来复杂多了，因为设计师很有可能只是将自己的宝贵时间用于解决一个不是很重要的问题上。

所有批评都是有效的

对于许多学生来讲他们在图像设计课程中最郁闷之处便是得到负面评价吧。而我们也不能够与老师争辩，因为这是一种愚蠢的表现。许多学生都会认为老师非常傲慢，但是事实上她的目的只是让学生们接受并相信她的评价。

在图像设计世界中，不同意或忽视批评意见是设计师所面临的最可耻的做法之一。如果你不能像一个谦虚成熟的成人那样接受并分析批判意见，那么你便不适合设计这份工作。

设计师应勇于接受批评

考虑到听取自己设计的重要性，我们也不该忽视询问别人反馈意见所带来的帮助。但是事实上寻求反馈意见却不是那么简单。在努力解决了一个复杂的设计问题后，设计师最后需要做的便是让别人帮自己找出设计中遗漏的内容。当然他们也可以选择避开反馈（可能是无意识的），但是如此他们自己的“聆听”技能也会出现偏见，并最终忽视了新问题。

作为设计师我们还需要获得一定的勇气。就像Jesse Schell解释的那样：

当我们深入听取别人意见时，我们也是将自己置于一个风险领域。我们总是认为自己听到的任何意见都是负面的，都将反驳我们的所有设想。但是从根本上看这是一种开放心态，也是我们了解真相的唯一方法。你必须像孩子那样看待任何事，不做假设而仔细观察所有内容。

设计师不是为了自己而设计

学生不喜欢接受图像设计老师的反馈的另一大原因便是他们觉得老师总是强行将自己的想法凌驾于学生的设计之上。而很多专业设计师试图避开批评意见也是因为，他们认为这么做能够获得更多控制权并决定最终结果。

但是这却是对设计的错误且自私的理解。设计并不只是设计师传达自己的想法或满足自己的欲望。而应该是关于如何满足最终用户的需求，并以最佳方式优化用户体验。

当然了，设计过程中也存在允许设计师做出个人决策并决定设计总体方向的空间，但是这些元素却永远不会超越用户的需求。

设计师不该找借口

当你的设计中存在缺陷时，你总是会向批评者们不断解释这些缺陷的各种“不确定性因素”。但是你所做的这一切都只是在为自己找借口而已，只是想借此反驳批评意见。

真正优秀的设计师会同意各种批评意见并接受他们未能解决特殊问题的事实。

获得充分认知

个人来讲我更喜欢将“聆听”技能当成是一种认知状态，即努力掌握设计的所有元素，不管好与坏。作为游戏设计师，我便一直在努力扩展我的认知状态——即超越个人项目并渗透到日常生活中。

因为游戏设计师的工作便是设计各种经历。人们总是拥有各种经历，不论是与家人共享晚餐那般简单还是参加马拉松培训那样复杂。而游戏设计师应该养成一种习惯，也就是学会分析并评判自己每一天的各种经历。如此便能加强他们对于经历的理解，并思考哪些元素能够完善或破坏各种经历。

例如在今年夏天亚利桑那大学（游戏邦注：美国亚利桑那州第一所综合性大学）的墨西哥餐厅便进行了一次大整修。他们扔掉了大多数旧设备并引进了各种现代且颜色鲜艳的新设备。而直到重新装潢后我们才真正意识到早前的设计是多么糟糕。之前的餐厅不仅暗而狭窄，同时桌椅排序也非常混乱，但是在翻新前我们却很少注意到这些问题。

如果游戏设计师都不能注意到日常生活中一些明显的问题，他们又怎么能在游戏中找到问题所在？也就是说我们需要努力从实践中获得真知。

游戏邦注：原文发表于2011年11月5日，所涉事件和数据均以当时为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to Think Like a Designer: Applying Graphic Design to Game Design

Livio De La Cruz

I made the above posters a few weeks ago as part of a class project where we had to initiate a QR code advertisement campaign, which I naturally dedicated to my Game Developers Club.

Making these posters was surprisingly nostalgic. It reminded me of the three years that I spent learning graphic design in high school. My school offered four years worth of graphic design electives, all of which were taught by the same teacher. Because I transferred into the school during my sophomore year, I only had time to take the course for three years.

That class taught me one of the most important and universal skills that I’ve ever learned: how to think like a designer. Not only has this applied directly to making websites, but it has also helped me improve at public speaking, cinematography, writing, and of course, game design.

In this post, I’ll be analyzing how this class was able to teach me this valuable skill so that you too can start thinking like a designer.

Teaching Style

I’ve noticed that some of my favorite and most effective teachers were the ones who were kind, understanding, and encouraging. But our graphic design teacher was often the complete opposite.

When giving project feedback, she could be ruthless and unforgiving, especially if you had a really big design flaw in your work. This teaching style was actually very effective in driving home many of the key lessons that I took away from this class.

Listening to Your Design

Because the feedback could sometimes be so harsh, you were really motivated to hunt for design problems on your own rather than waiting for her to butcher our work. And as our understanding of graphic design grew, we eventually learned how to think about our designs on a much deeper level.

This skill is often referred to as “listening to your design”. It’s when you look at your design from all perspectives trying to find all possible flaws and strengths. As you gain experience and understanding in your specific field of design, you’ll gain a better idea of what you should be listening for. But much of it also involves listening to the subtle ways that the design can make you feel and then figuring out why.

Designers Solve Problems

When designers discuss design problems with non-designers (usually their clients), the non-designers are often appalled by the kinds of silly things that designers consider to be problems. For instance, a web designer may spend half an hour trying to find the perfect amount of spacing between a page’s navigation elements, but a non-designer might argue that users absolutely do not care about how much spacing there is.

The truth is that people do care, but they just don’t realize how important such small details are in defining their experience with the page. The amount of spacing helps determine how cluttered the page feels, which in turn determines how open and user-friendly the website is.

Changing this small value may cause other problems, such as the navigation taking too much screen space for certain monitor resolutions. The complexity of this problem justifies the amount of time needed to solve it, while also illustrating the true nature of a designer’s work. A designer’s job isn’t to come up with creative ideas all day; it’s mainly to identify and solve design problems in order to optimize a product’s relationship with its end users.

Managing Problems

It is impossible to solve all of a design’s problems. Furthermore, designers often run into design dilemmas, where all possible solutions to one problem will simply bring up even more problems.

Most of a designer’s time is spent fixing these issues and trying to crack design dilemmas. And because each project has a limited amount of time and resources, designers must properly manage and prioritize which flaws get fixed and which don’t. This is actually trickier than it sounds, as a designer could easily spend too much of their valuable time solving a problem that isn’t as significant as some other problems.

All Criticism is Valid

For many students, one of the most frustrating parts of the graphic design class was when they got feedback that they didn’t agree with. You really weren’t allowed to argue with the teacher, and doing so would just make you look like an idiot. Many students felt that the teacher was just being arrogant, but in reality her goal was always to make sure that you never discredited her feedback.

In the graphic design world, disagreeing with and ignoring criticism is one of the most shameful things that a designer can do. If you can’t accept and analyze criticism like a humble, mature adult, then working in design just isn’t for you.

Designers Bravely Seek Criticism

Given how important it is to listen to your design, it’s greatly beneficial to seek new perspectives by asking others for feedback. But seeking feedback is a lot harder than it seems. After working hard to solve a complicated design problem, the last thing a designer wants to hear is that they’ve missed something. Not only might they choose (perhaps unconsciously) to avoid feedback, but their own “listening” skills may also become biased in such a way as to overlook new issues.

And so, being a designer requires a certain amount of courage. Jesse Schell explains this better than I can:

When we listen deeply we put ourselves in a position of risk. We accept that possibility that what we hear may upset us, may cause everything we know to be contradicted. It is the ultimate in open-mindedness. It is the only way to learn the truth. You must approach everything as a child does, assuming nothing, observing everything…

Designers Don’t Design for Themselves

Another reason why some students disliked receiving feedback from our graphic design teacher was because they felt that she was tyrannically forcing her opinions into their design. And many professional designers are in fact tempted to avoid seeking criticism because they feel that it gives them more personal control over how the final work comes out.

But this is based on a really flawed and selfish understanding of design. Design isn’t about the designer expressing themselves or fulfilling their own desires. It’s about being dedicated to the end users’ needs, and optimizing their experience in the best way possible.

Of course, there’s plenty of room in the design process for the designer to make individual decisions and to determine the overall direction of the work, but these factors must never be prioritized above the users’ needs.

Designers Don’t Make Excuses

When you’re forced to leave flaws in your design, it becomes very tempting to respond to criticism by explaining to the critic how “unfixable” these flaws were. But all you’re really doing is giving excuses and trying to delegitimize the criticism.

A real designer would instead agree with the critic and accept the fact that they failed to solve that specific problem.

Achieving Full Awareness

I personally prefer to think of the skill of “listening” as a state of awareness where one strives to become fully aware of all aspects of a design, both good and bad. As a game designer, I strive to expand my state of awareness past my individual projects and into my daily life.

The reasoning is that a game designer’s job is to design experiences. People have experiences all the time, whether it’s as simple as enjoying a meal with one’s family, or as complicated as training for a marathon. So naturally, game designers should get in the habit of analyzing and critiquing the vast amount of experiences that they have everyday. Doing so will enhance their understanding of what defines certain experiences and how they can be either improved or ruined by various factors.

For example, here at the University of Arizona we have this Mexican restaurant that underwent a complete redesign during this past the summer. They threw almost everything away, while adding modern new furniture and bright new colors. It wasn’t until this radical redesign that most of us realized just how atrocious the old design was. The old restaurant was dark, cramped, confusing, and just plain ugly, and yet none of us had realize these problems before the renovations.

If as game designers, we can’t even notice when something in our everyday lives obviously isn’t working, how can we possibly locate these kinds of problems in our games? Clearly, we’re going to need all the practice we can get.(source:Livio’s Game Blog)