March — what a month. Not only did I go on my first holiday in 3 years, but also managed to get ill with the virus we all know very well and be bed ridden for a week. In the meantime I was finishing up my first app design and tried to manage my time efficiently (or at least what was left of it).
However, I still managed to keep my habit of reading design books, so without further ado, let me present to you what I’ve learned in March of 2022.
Book 1 — How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert
First book of the month was How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert. The book covers general introduction into information architecture. And by saying introduction — I really mean it. As I was reading the book, I had a feeling that I am reading a very long intro to a text book and hoped that the secret information architecture sauce will be revealed soon. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
I felt like the whole premise of the book was based on what information architecture should be like, but didn’t go into too much details. Overall, I think that anyone who is interested in learning a bit more about information architecture would be better off picking up something more structured (ironically). The book might be a better choice for someone who already is knowledgable in information architecture and would be keen to know the author’s best practices and points of view.
Book 2 — Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Book number two on the other hand was an absolute treat! Since having read it I already recommended it to at least two people. So, so good!
I think the book is perfect for someone is keen to change their life, but doesn’t know where to start. The authors guide the reader through how to apply design thinking techniques onto their own life transformation. Prototyping, ideation techniques, reiteration — all those techniques are there, ready to enable you create the life of your dreams (a concept which will still constantly change as you grow older and your priorities change).
What really resonated with me while listening to the book is that life design should be a collective effort. We are all used to thinking of ourselves as lone ships steering to success, but actually everyone needs a team. The authors introduce the idea of having our friends and family giving us feedback and helping us understanding where our strenghts lie. Because you are you and you are the creator of your own identity, there’s a bias you might not be able to overcome yourself. For example, simply asking your friends what do they think you’re better at than everyone else can reveal some interesting insights. We design products in teams, so why won’t we apply the same techniques to ourselves?
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for their path, regardless if they’re a designer or not.
Book 3— The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink
I have a lot of regrets. I don’t think I met any other person that could pinpoint to the date of decisions that I wish I didn’t take and dwell on them for ages. I’ve always felt haunted by ghosts of my past choices and regretted dearly not following my heart where I now think I should have.
Daniel Pink’s book introduces an interesting thesis — that it’s the regrets that actually drive us forward and help us become more intentional about life choices.
Research introduced in the book was gathered by the author in the ‘World Regret Survey’. It was really interesting to read other people’s regrets and compare them to your own. After reading a few, I quickly realised that it is safe to say that everyone has some sort of regret. It is simply not possible to be completely content with all the life choices we make and people who have more regrets are usually the ones that just have higher expectations of themselves and their lives.
I think it was an interesting read for me, switching careers at the moment. I used to be angry at myself for making certain decisions in the past and choosing a career in finance, which wasn’t my passion at all, but now I realised that this very regret is actually the force pushing me forward. It allowed me to see what I don’t want as well as become more motivated to pursue something that I truly believe will make me happy.
Another research outcome that was really interesting was that most respondents believed that they were in control of their fate as well as that everything happens for a reason. I think most of us identifies with having those two beliefs — yes, I have free will and yes, things happen for a reason. But if we think about it, from a logical perspective, these statements are contradictory. It’s one or the other. Being a researcher at heart, I think this very statement may have cured me from my ‘whatifism’. If I believe that there is something bigger that will steer my life to the right direction, it doesn’t make logical sense to assign too much meaning to our decisions.
Whenever I talk to my dad about my problems, he always says that ‘maybe it’s for the best’. It has grown into my brain as a thinking framework and it become my second nature to say this to myself multiple times a day now. Maybe it really is all about how we see the situation and whether a regret will drive us forwards or drag us down. Maybe a little ‘maybe it’s for the best-ism’ its all we need really.
