From Limits To Launchpads: Embracing Creative Constraints In Strategic Design
Making Friends With Creative Constraints
As a graphic facilitator and design strategist, I’m often invited to help teams find creative new solutions to tired old problems.
And in my nearly 10 year tenure in design strategy, I’ve tallied up a laundry list of terms that seem to describe the creative process. You can think outside the box! You can blue-sky brainstorm! If you’re feeling really ambitious, you might even do some 10x- or Moonshot-Thinking.
You’d get the sense from these phrases that the only thing stopping businesses from developing the next Netflix or Uber is a bunch of red tape. And while it’s true that bureaucracy and status quo thinking can get teams stuck in a rut, I’ve come to realize that an outsized emphasis on creative freedom is equally unhelpful when it comes to ideating truly innovative design solutions.
Firstly, because the obsession with creative freedom comes from the unhelpful myth that “creatives” aren’t like the rest of us: Office workers sit in tiny cubicles, and painters at messy easels. Accountants work 9 to 5, and poets whenever the muse hits them. Right?
Well, not exactly. Every creative I’ve ever known who makes substantial work does so through diligence and effort, not a cheat code from the muse.
Secondly, because the obsession with creative freedom ignores what anyone who’s ever faced a blank page will tell you: total freedom can be pretty damn debilitating.
And finally, because whether we want them or not, constraints are there whether we want them or not. Budgets, timelines, and business drivers are all a reality that have to be faced, not ignored.
But far from limiting ideation, constraints can be a gift to any design strategist as they seek more creative solutions.
Here’s how to turn a few limitations into launchpads in your next design strategy project.
Use Time Limits To Overcome Ideation Paralysis
Ever heard of Parkinson’s Law? It’s a foundational concept in UX design, and it codifies what any good procrastinator knows firsthand: the time it takes to complete a task expands exponentially to fill the time allocated to it.
When it comes to creative thinking, we often think of time crunches as the enemy. But in initial ideation phases, sometimes they’re just what you need to get the juices flowing. That’s because tighter time frames will force you to generate ideas without overthinking them, and to focus on what matters most at any given stage of a project’s life cycle.
Here are a few ways to use time limits to help you overcome ideation paralysis:
Start with a clear minimum viable product: What is most crucial for you to achieve at this stage of your project? If you’re writing a first draft blog post, don’t waste time spell-checking. If it’s a brainstorm, don’t waste time arguing over viability.
Get your space ready: clear away distractions, close extra tabs, and set an away message on your email. You might only have an hour to complete the task, but it will be a focused one.
Set your timer: Give yourself a real stopping point and dedicate yourself to moving forward with whatever you have at the end of it.
Make it better later: Imagine you’re generating the raw ore of an idea. It might be messy, but it’s the critical mass that you’ll later refine into something more presentable.
Use Stakeholder Demands As Creative Bumper Rails
Stakeholder demands can sometimes seem at odds with creative exploration. But they’re also your raison d’etre as a design strategist, so you better find a way to make friends with them. Far from hemming you in, a clear grasp of your stakeholder's challenges and needs is a real gift when it comes to creative ideation.
That’s because a narrowly defined problem statement, and the creative brief you generate from it, can act like creative bumper rails, giving you license to lob ideas down the runway full force with the assurance that they will bounce you back in a useful direction.
No matter the nature of the project, your first responsibility as a design strategist is to ask meaningful questions. A lot of them.
What is your stakeholder’s company culture? What motivates them?
What is the challenge the project is meant to address? Where does it stem from?
In what context will your work be shared? Who is the audience?
What are the technical parameters you’ll need to work within?
Suddenly, with the answers you gather, you’re no longer working with that terrifying blank page. You now have both a set of bumper rails to bounce ideas off of, and the scaffolding on which you can build towards a solution.
Use Budget Limits To Uncover Focus
Your stakeholder comes to you with a $10k need, and a $5k budget. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you can convince them to open the purse strings a little wider, but more likely than not you’ll need to find a way to meet them where their finances are if you want to win the contract.
Working within a tight budget can be challenging, but it can also be an opportunity to help stakeholders distinguish priorities from nice-to-haves, and to win some good will as a solution-oriented design strategist.
Here’s how to use budget limits to find creative focus:
Drill down below the initial ask to uncover the core need behind it. Focus first on the impact a project needs to have, and second on the form it takes.
Build a brief against the core need and share it with stakeholders to confirm alignment.
Own your expertise and coach your stakeholder on the best ways to gain the most value out of your work.
By using budget to focus your stakeholder on what matters, and by staying focused on impact over form, you’ll showcase yourself as a true creative partner and unlock some winning ideas.
Ready To Move From Limitation To Innovation?
From persona mapping sessions revitalized by graphic facilitation, to sales initiatives empowered by animated explainer videos, design strategy has the power to uncover new solutions to old problems.
Reach out today for a creative consultation, and let’s find ways to move from limitation to innovation together.