Designing with a team

Wow I really want to turn this into a “dealing with different people while working with design” column, but I’m scared that could get me into trouble. So this is my design theory on dealing with team members in contextual projects.

I think the heart of the matter is this: It doesn’t matter what you do or say, it only matters how the person you’re communicating to receives it. You can say whatever the hell you feel in what ever form you feel and it means nothing. You might as well be talking to a wall! The real trick of the situation to be able to talk to anyone in their own private language.

I have 4 team members and I have totally different structured ways of communicating with each. This may sound like a huge waste of time, learning a new language for each member, but the time I save in communicating efficiently with each person makes up for by the end of project. At this point I don’t even think about how to talk to my team, I just do and use my past experiences to tell me the message was received as I wanted. The communicating is simply part of my routine.

How did I create these ways of communicating? Good question! By using the steps of contextual design. I spoke to my team member, I listened to what they said, I compared what they said to past experiences I’ve had with other people, I made an initial theory on how to interact with them, I test the theory, I fine tune and repeat ‘til satisfied.

A key point for me is listening to the other person whole-heartedly. I toss my preconceived notions for that time and watch them as they try to communicate with me. Not just their words, but also their actions small and large. With this ‘data” I can make my theories, but until I actually do this I tend to keep my mouth shut.

Another key point is I don’t give up. If one of my theories fails, I try, try and try again until I have a solid communication structure that works for my team member and me.

Using Contextual Design for learning how to communicate with other people. Who would have thought it possible?