Facebook设计总监：设计师是CEO的好人选
玛利亚•焦迪琦，Facebook产品设计总监
|
Facebook的产品设计总监玛利亚•焦迪琦深信，公司高管如能将优秀设计的原则用于管理工作，将受益无穷。在《首席设计官崛起：用设计来领导》（Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design）一书中，焦迪琦与本书另一位作者，同样也是设计师的克里斯多夫•爱尔兰为现代经理们奉上了一本实用工作手册。近日，《财富》杂志（Fortune）专访了焦迪琦，请她分享对设计、创业的真知灼见，以及在这个全球最大的社交网络企业中工作的切身体会。 《财富杂志》：您是如何定义设计的？ 焦迪琦：我知道，传统上设计总是被看成是财报上的一项支出，而不是投资。我想改变这种观念。我对设计的定义很宽泛。典型的设计师就是产品的塑造者。 “设计”这个词就需要重新设计。设计师不需要多考虑自己使用的媒介，而要把重点更多地放在完成能实实在在满足人们需求的东西的过程上。这个过程需要促进和协作。它不可能在真空里完成。设计就是与多学科团队通力合作、共同打造更出色产品的过程。 一个优秀设计师需要具备哪些素质？ 我认为设计师应该具备的品质是——我把它们叫超能力。首先就是同理心。在艺术学校或设计学院上学就要学会如何设身处地感受他人的想法，这会让你今后置身商业环境时受益匪浅。 另一个就是要能够系统思考。我们这个世界太复杂，而技术一直在其中起着良好的平衡作用。各种系统都非常复杂，因此在为某个必须考虑周到的问题提供设计方案时，不能只见树木不见森林。设计师就是要深入了解系统。 正如20世纪的信息及获取信息的方式是当时的根本挑战一样，复杂性似乎是21世纪的根本挑战。 确实如此。所以设计师喜欢将这种复杂性简化。通过模式识别，他们能了解复杂性，学会简化它。所以，能系统思考的人需要被提拔到首席执行官的层面。企业也会需要具备这种思考能力的人才。 另一种（超能力）就是敢于风险，但必须是有勇有谋。传统上首席执行官都是损益表的奴隶。很难大步前进。但是这个世界不会等着你。必须快速前进，而这么做的唯一方式就是了解如何巧妙地承担风险。 确实有一些首席执行官敢冒风险。比如，马克•扎克伯格就是在冒险。又如：欧特克公司（Autodesk）是一家软件企业，但它现在正超越这个身份去重新思考其产品到底能为世界做些什么。这就是巧妙地冒险。 你是在呼吁提拔首席设计官？ 没错，由设计师来担任首席执行官。 这其实就是要提前展现那些软技能。不管首席执行官们是否喜欢它们，都必须具备这些技能。 我并不是说非得去设计学院学习，才能成为一名首席设计官。而是要运用自己在设计学院学到的那些素养。不过从理论上说，这些素养是能够在我们年龄较小时就开始学习的，而不是整天只知道学数学和英语。就创造力而言，我们其实小时候都沿着同一曲线前进，但到了四年级就会出现明显下降。因为那时候我们开始为考试担心，把精力都放到数学和英语上去了。有些人认为自己没什么创造力，其实他们只是在读到四年级的时候被剥夺了这种能力。 |
Facebook's (FB) director of product design, Maria Giudice, believes executives can benefit by applying principles of good design to business. In Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, Giudice, along with co-author and designer Christopher Ireland, offers up a workbook for the modern manager. Fortune recently caught up with Giudice for a download on design, entrepreneurship, and working at the world's largest social network. Fortune: How would you define design? Giudice: I think historically design has always been thought of as an expense on a balance sheet, not an investment. I want to change that. I define design widely. Typically designers are thought of as makers of artifacts. The word "design" needs a redesign. Designers need to be thinking not about the medium that they're serving but more about the process to get to something that is tangibly made to serve people's needs. It's about facilitation. It's about collaboration. It's not done in a vacuum. It's about working in a multidisciplinary team in collaboration to create something greater. What makes a good designer? The characteristics that I think designers posses -- I call them superpowers. The first thing is empathy. When you go to art or design school you learn how to be empathetic, and that serves you well in business. inker. And our world is so heavily complex because technology has been a great equalizer. The systems are so complex that you can't design for a discreet problem without looking at the whole thing. Designers learn about systems. It seems that that complexity is the fundamental challenge for the 21st century in the same way that information and access to it was for the 20th century. Yes. So designers like to make that complexity simple. Through pattern recognition, they can take complexity and learn to simplify it. So, systems thinkers need to be at the CEO level. You're going to need somebody who can think that way. Another [superpower] is being a risk taker, but a smart risk taker. Traditionally CEOs are slaves to the P&L. It's hard to move forward. But the world is not waiting for you. You have to move fast and the only way you can do that is by understanding how to take risks in a smart way. There are certain CEOs that do take risks. You know, Mark Zuckerberg is taking risks. Another example: Autodesk (ADSK) was a software company, but it's transcending being a software company to rethink what its product does for the world. That's smart risk. So you are calling for a DEO? Yes, a designer CEO. This is really about unlocking these soft skills earlier. CEOs are going to have to get them whether they like it or not. When I talk about being a DEO, I don't mean going to design school to become a DEO. It's leveraging these characteristics that we inherently learn in design school, but in theory can be taught in much younger age to people rather than focusing on just math and English. What happens with creativity is that we're all going along at the same curve, and then at fourth grade there's a drop-off. We start worrying about testing and just focus on math and English. For those people who don't define themselves as creative, it's beaten out of them by the fourth grade. |
