Innovation in Design Pt2: When should design innovate and what are common blockers?
When I started thinking about how to structure a talk on being more innovative and free-thinking in design, I kept coming back to two questions:
When should we innovate?
What blocks designers from being innovative?
I thought i’d try to break these down.
When Should We Innovate?
Short answer: Always. Even in the small details, there’s room for innovation. But that doesn’t mean every problem requires a brand-new solution. The key is knowing when to push for something novel and when to lean on existing best practices. Here are some questions to help decide:
1. Can this be solved with basic design principles or heuristic evaluations?
Not everything needs to be reinvented. Many usability issues have well-established solutions that work because they’re intuitive and familiar. Take navigation, for example. Users already know how to interact with menus—do we really want to disrupt that by placing a menu in a non-discoverable spot? Probably not.
2. How important is this design to users, the business, or the team?
Some workflows are critical; others are barely used. A profile settings page that users visit once a year? Probably not the place for big innovation. But if that page is a core part of the product experience, then thinking about how it stands out from competitors or improves usability makes sense.
3. How much time do we have?
Innovation takes time. If you're under a tight deadline, it might not be the best moment for heavy exploration. But if you have the space, pushing for a fresh approach can be worth it.
Common Blocks to Innovation
After nearly 13 years in design, I’ve seen (and personally experienced) a lot of things that get in the way of creative thinking. Here are some of the biggest blockers:
1. Jumping to High Fidelity Too Fast
A lot of designers rush into high-fi before exploring multiple ideas. The problem isn’t high fidelity itself—it’s the time spent polishing details before even validating a concept. This usually results in only one idea making it to the table when there should be ten. When you go high-fi too soon, you focus on details that don’t matter yet. My advice? Start low-fi. Strip out the unnecessary details, or better yet, sketch on paper.
2. Fear of Being Wrong
Pitching new ideas can feel scary. No one wants to be judged or shot down. It took me a long time to get comfortable with this, but I’ve learned to approach new ideas as conversations rather than personal tests. I’ve pitched concepts I thought wouldn’t land, only to find that people loved them. And even when the final product wasn’t my exact idea, the discussion led to something valuable. The goal isn’t to get your way—it’s to push thinking forward.
3. Confusing Concepts with Iterations
A lot of designers think they’re presenting five concepts when they’re actually just showing five minor variations of the same thing—like moving a button around. That’s not five concepts; it’s five touchpoints. A concept is a fundamentally different way of solving a problem. An iteration is a refinement of that concept.
Think of shoe design:
Concept: Different fastening methods (laces vs. Velcro)
Iteration: Changing the lace pattern, lace size, or material
In my next post i’ll talk about how to apply free thinking in a step by step process that I have developed, stay tuned I am really excited to share!