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What makes a resilient designer?

1 What is ‘The Resilient

Designer’

1Why this is important

12What we found out

in words: from students

14What we found out

in words: from lecturers

16What we found out

in words: from employers

18Conclusions

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7What attributes make up a resilient designer

8How it was done

10What we found out in

numbers

19Challenges

6Who this affects

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“A perspective of a primary role of HE [Higher Education] is economic, aimed at helping students prepare for work (Kerins, 2011), which reinforces that education and employability are integral. Increases to fees, reduced applications to HE (UCAS 2012) and rising unemployment emphasise the employability agenda for HEI’s. Currently, mainstream art & design education is in flux due to education reforms […] leading to threats to creative subjects within the national curriculum (Carrington, Thompson & Le Brun, 2013), which may impact upon student and young person’s choices for education and career opportunities.” (Raven & Raven, 2013) (See page 8 for references)

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What is ‘the resilient designer’

The Resilient Designer is a research project in collaboration with the London College of Communication (LCC) and Uscreates, a socially focused strategic design agency. Four current and graduating students, alongside an Uscreates appointed project associate, delivered the research. It was initiated to understand the obstacles and drivers to empowering new graphic design and communication design students with an independent, proactive, self-actualised and positive attitude to learning and practicing design.

Why this is important

The intention of this project is to generate stakeholder-led research to gather insight and an understanding of the context, barriers, drivers, and potential for improving the resilience of design students. It aims to identify recommendations to be implemented at the start of the 2013 academic year, with regard to alternative approaches to setting projects, teaching and workshop methods and techniques, as well as different approaches to assessment.

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Who this affects

To ascertain a holistic understanding of what makes a resilient designer, there are three main stakeholders involved in this project: students, lecturers and employers.

lecturers

students

employers

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What attributes make up a resilient designer

These attributes were generated from the literature and practice review, and formed the basis for our stakeholder research (page 8).

Collaborative Attributes

Industry Related Attributes

Individual Management Attributes

Individual Strategic Attributes

Open to feedback • Communicator Team player • Self-promoting Networker

Problem-solver • Inquisitive • Agile Visionary • Strategic • Self-directed Unafraid of failure • Risk-taker Can-do attitude • Confident Self-reflective.

Multi-tasker • Responsible Resourceful • Organised • Attentive to details • Working under pressure

Theory-practice balance • Empathic Interdisciplinary • Industry-aware Researcher • Ideas person • Creative Passionate about learning

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*Duckworth, A.L., et al. (2007) Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 9, 1087–1101.

Duckworth, A. L. and Seligman, M. (2005) Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of

adolescents. Psychological Science, 16:12, 939–944.

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hoW it was done

Step 1: Literature reviewThis generated the four main categories and the list of attributes within them that define a resilient designer.*

Step 2: Stakeholder ResearchThe following mixed methods were used to gather stakeholder- centered insight-In-depth interviews (lecturers)-Email surveys to LCC contact databases (students, lecturers and employers)-Resilient designer pod at LCC (students)

Each stakeholder was asked to choose what they believed to be the 3 top attributes that constitute a resilient designer. They were then asked to respond with stories for when the attribute had been demonstrated well, and also when it had been demonstrated poorly. With regard to current and graduating students, the stories were from their own course experience at LCC. Lecturers drew on stories from their teaching experience and approaches. Employers were asked about stories from recruitment interviews, and how the chosen attributes related to their employability criteria.

Step 3: Co-analysisAll the stories gathered from the stakeholder research were grouped and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, to generate this report (page 10)

Step 4: Co-design challenges The insight gathered from this report informed some key challenges that design education needs to tackle in the future to empower students with resilience skills and prepare them for industry. (page 19)

Duckworth, A.L. (2013) The key to success? Grit. Prvesented at TED Talks Education. (N/A) [online] Available

from: http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit.html

Raven, D. and Raven, L. (2013) Improving employability for widening participation students: a cross-college and

cross-discipline initiative. UAL Teaching & Professional Fellowship Report. Unpublished.

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What We found out in numbers

Individual Management Attributes Industry Related Attributes

Collaborative Attributes Individual Strategic Attributes

33%

40%

22%

25%

25%

48%

24%

15%

30%

18%

20%

0%

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studentsConfidentCommunicatorWorking under pressureCreativeResearcherUnafraid of failure

lecturersUnafraid of failureVisonaryAttentive to detailResourcefulEmpathicResearcher

employersCreativeOpen to feedbackPassionate about learningInterdisciplinaryEmpathicProblem Solver

top six attributes per stakeholder

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What We found out in words from students

The research generated responses from 82 students, allowing us to ascer-tain a top six selection of attributes considered important for a resilient designer. These were, in order:

Confidence, Communicator, Working under pressure,Creative, Researcher,Unafraid of failure.

The top six attributes included a story from each category demonstrating that students think holistically about their resilience skills. (page 7)

The most important attribute was indicated to be confidence, with 21 of the 83 students choosing it in their top three. Recurring themes within the sto-ries given, focused on learning to take criticism, believing in your abili-ties and pitching ideas, as was particularly highlighted in one student’s response: “When I really, truly believe in one of my concepts I hear negative and posi-tive feedback and just select the ones that are really useful, but never stop believing in this concept. Most of the time it pays off, as I get recognition, even from people who didn’t believe in it.”

Within the confidence stories there was a link to the idea of risk taking, which highlighted the importance of another top attribute, unafraid of failure. One student talked about their last ever project, where they “went with a challenging idea with confidence and did really well”; insinuating that their development over the course had led them to be more confident in experi-menting and attempting new approaches and ideas.

With experimentation and trying something new as common themes with-in the unafraid of failure attribute, many also mentioned that they felt this allowed them to learn from any mistakes. On the other hand, many ex-

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pressed that they try to please tutors, lack of progress due to fear of fail-ure and anxiety from seeking perfection. For example, one student stated: “Having the constant need for perfection can scare you when it comes to a project you aren’t happy with.”

There appeared to be similarities between being unafraid of failure, and be-ing creative, where the themes focused positively on generating multiple ideas, as well as attempting new approaches and technological skills. Some students found creativity difficult with very specific briefs.

“In my very first brief on the course, there wasn’t a lot of scope for me to be creative” whilst some said that pressure can also stifle creativity; “when you run out of ideas in a project it is really hard as you waste a lot of time.”

However, many students felt that they generated their best ideas when working under pressure. One theme was the pressure of working on multi-ple projects at the same time, but also the difficulty of different marking criteria for each brief. It was noted that responding to unforeseen compli-cations nearing the deadline, i.e. technological difficulties, was a mutual issue; though, generally, pressure was considered a motivational factor, mak-ing people more efficient; “While making a hundred outcomes, the best few were made in the last few hours.”

Interestingly, researcher was also one of the top 5 attributes, which is al-most in contrast to working under pressure. It was apparent that student believed that adapting research methods allowed for a more enjoyable design process, whilst being up to date with current affairs and subject knowledge allowed for more informed design decisions; “On a few projects in my first year (2011) I have been guilty of not going in-depth with my research, which ultimately lead to a poor grade.”

Confidence is an important attribute to be a good ‘communicator’, with stu-dents recognising through group work that communication skills are es-sential for successful outcomes. It was also noted to be vital when pitch-ing ideas that you can communicate your project effectively, yet some felt that they may not listen or feedback enough to others. “Communication in a team is essential, when you talk to your team you work together and work with your strengths.”

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What We found out in words from lecturers

The results of the lecturer interviews indicated a rather even level of expectation of the students, with regard to resilient designer attributes. It was found there were 6 attributes with 2 votes each, from individual stra-tegic, individual management and industry related categories. Whilst there were a few single attributes chosen within the collaborative category, they were not considered within the top rated attributes, indicating that tutors are more concerned with developing other attributes. However, it is important to take into consideration that, unfortunately, only 7 lecturers participated in the research. The top attributes were as follows:

Resourceful,Attentive to detail, Researcher,Empathic,Unafraid of failure,Visionary.

When considering the importance of attention to detail, it was indicated that certain projects were set to encourage different skillsets, e.g. typography related to newspaper design, and that attendance to the contact time is vital for learning; “those that participated and understood what the details mean on those pages have produced the best work. That is digging into those tiny, tiny details and a lot of graphic design is detail.”

The emphasis on detail is equally important for the content of a project, particularly research, as it is essential that a resilient designer conducts thorough research, using a variety of sources. It is imperative to be open minded and to step out of your comfort zone, especially when testing new ideas, concepts and theories, which will ensure that the student is confi-dent and decisive.

“Understanding what the research is about, pulling all the best information from the research that you do… that’s the important thing, is this relevant to what we’re researching?”

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When researching, lecturers stated that being ‘empathic’ was an essential attribute for a designer; students should actively engage with their audi-ence, and not make naïve assumptions. The lecturers felt that because the courses at LCC include students from diverse backgrounds, this assists in enhancing empathy.

“One of the benefits of a large course for people all over the world and from different social backgrounds is that you get to meet lots of people you wouldn’t otherwise meet; so that empathy and understanding can be built through being with people who are different to you, and seeing maybe they aren’t that different to you.”

Similarly, it was mentioned that tutors should be wary of focusing on the designed outcome, and not on the individual student; that they should take into concern the journey that student has made throughout the project. This could potentially assist in ensuring that students are less afraid of assess-ments – linking to another attribute indicated as vital, unafraid of failure.

Within this attribute, recurrent themes included the idea that there is no such thing as failure, and rather that it prompts reflection, and leads to further learning. It was also suggested that fear can push people to produce generic or trendy work based on the designs of others and not something original or innovative. “If you go into that [project] afraid of failing, your approach might be restricted and you’ll make safe choices and make things that look like things that exist already.”

This is in contrast to the stories for the visionary attribute, which suggests that it is important for design students to have design idols, as they are still learning what a designer is and have yet to distinguish their place within the design field. It was recognized that lateral thinking is imperative, and “that to be a good designer you need to be interested in everything.”

Lecturers also wanted their students to be resourceful, with regard to con-fidence and belief in their own work, with emphasis on less tutor reliance, which links with the importance of research in being decisive about your own project. The indication that as students develop on the course, they would not “always ask for permission or approval.”

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What We found out in words from employers

When analysing the response from employers, it was found that there were no attributes chosen from the individual management category, whilst the majority were from the industry related. This could be due to the intention for the student to be managed by the agency, rather than as an individual. However it is again important to recognise that only 9 employers participat-ed in the research. The top six attributes were as follows:

CreativeOpen to feedbackPassionate about learningInterdisciplinaryEmpathicProblem solver

The most important attribute, according to employers, was creative, which received 6 votes. It was indicated that during interviews, they felt it vital to be shown the design process and not just the final outcome, to allow the quality of the content to be recognised. In one example, an employer chose to enter another attribute under the title of ‘process’, whilst many considered it as part of the creative attribute.

It was highlighted that many students seem to focus on the visual aspect of design, but lack in the quality of research or content that should form the basis of their project; leading to unimaginative or uncreative, though potentially technically correct outcomes.

“Students who present a portfolio of projects that show that they can layout type and perform basic design skills, but show little curiosity or interest in the content of anything that they had designed.”

Similar to the idea of process within creativity, employers indicated empathic as another vital attribute. They valued candidates who saw the importance of engaging with and understanding their audience, to generate an appropri-ate design response. Where this was lacking, it was felt that the work, how-ever attractive, was naïve and “shallow and self indulgent.”

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This links with being open to feedback, which employers felt was an essen-tial attribute to allow for direction within the workplace. The inability of applicants to see past their own outcome, and reluctance for discussion or dialogue about their decisions would decrease their employability chances. For a designer to be open to alternatives, whilst also being inquisitive and showing an interest in wanting to improve through feedback, was desirable to employers.

“I sensed from the way he talked about clients that he would not listen to feedback at all, and had a very concrete vision of what was ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in design… the reality of design jobs is dealing with client feedback.”

Being open-minded to feedback showed a passion for learning that is at-tractive to prospective employers, as it indicates that you will be willing to learn from them. Often employers would set short tasks during interviews, and candidates who expected to be given constant direction and a reliance or approval would imply that there was little initiative or active participa-tion. “They hadn’t realized that it was their responsibility to learn on the job in an active way and not simply be spoon fed.”

The need for constant direction also suggests a lack of the problem solving attribute. Bringing your own approach to a project, whilst also being able to assess the success of the solution is important within industry. The ability to define problems, even when faced with an unclear brief was considered essential; viewing it as “a positive, seeing the opportunity to get involved more strategically and develop the final product collaboratively… made everyone feel more confident.”

Having an understanding of the different skills and roles of people within interdisciplinary teams was considered a useful attribute for working in an agency environment. Similarly, being interested in everything and being considered interdisciplinary, was also valued; as indicated by one employer:

“I interviewed a very strong visual design candidate… who was also very inter-ested in music and composition and had initiated side projects around that interest with friends of his… I felt that no matter what sort of design task I would have given him, he would have had the resourcefulness to complete and would have probably worked well within a team of different disciplines.”

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conclusions

It was interesting to recognize that students thought communication and confidence were important attributes, when employers also included being open to feedback in their top six. The importance of debate and discussion of design, in relation to progression is vital in improving as a designer and becoming more confident.

Employers wanted a confident candidate who would not be reliant on constant direction, which resonated with the hopes of the lecturers for the students. That students would take the initiative to problem solve as individuals was an important trait, and indicated confidence as well as being unafraid of failure.

Lecturers found that when student were more reliant, they were afraid of fail-ing and focused on jumping through hoops to achieve a good grade. This emphasis on assessment not only leads to anxiety amongst the students, but was also considered a limit to creativity.

Creative was an attribute considered important by both employers and stu-dents, though lecturers looked for similar visionary attributes within their students. It was interesting to note that employers considered the entire process of a project under the term creative, and felt it important to be shown the quality of the content and research.

Similarly, there was found to be a link between being resourceful and confi-dent, and the research for a project; students felt that in-depth research allowed them to make informed decisions, and lecturers agreed that students were more decisive had they fully researched into their project.

Thorough research also indicates empathy and results in a more coherent and appropriate design outcome that was mentioned to be attractive to employers. Lecturers also found that a lack of engaging with a target audi-ence, meant that students made naïve assumptions which impacted on the success of their final outcomes.

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Research also implies the student is knowledgeable of contemporary design practices and current affairs, which was important to employers. Being interested in everything shows a passion for learning, but also shows a willingness to work in interdisciplinary teams, or learn interdisciplinary skills. Openness to feedback also indicates a desire to learn.

The recurring themes through the stakeholder research focus on the devel-opment of confidence, which is developed through being open to feedback and a willingness to adapt and learn. Effective research will develop empa-thy, but will also enable creativity and introduce the designer to a variety of appropriate, interdisciplinary design responses. This will all generate confidence, which will lead a student to become a less reliant, more resourceful and resilient designer.

challenges

The findings of this research revealed three key challenges that each of our stakeholders needs to address to create a new generation of resilient designers. These were:

Student How can students become more receptive to feedback from employers, clients and target audiences, to create better-informed design solutions?

Lecturer How can lecturers develop assessment systems that discourage fear of failure and reliance on tutor approval, and encourage experimental creativity? Employer How can employers develop better techniques for interviewing design students to reveal the attributes that are most critical to the role?

This research document was authored and created by: Darren RavenJoanna ChoukeirAlexandra ClarkeDaniel AptAmy ManningColin OmosebiRebecca Anne Louise Watson

Research DirectorResearch LeadResearch AssociateResearch InternResearch InternResearch InternResearch Intern