It’s a regular Monday morning. All the design team is organizing the tasks for the ongoing week and reviewing requirements and deadlines for the various projects at the studio or company you work at. Suddenly, among the tasks that are being assigned to you, one of them stands out, but you can’t quite figure out why. Maybe, the task requirements are too few or too abstract, possibly leading to multiple interpretations. Perhaps, the task comes from a client or project you haven’t previously worked with. Or, maybe, the task’s description simply doesn’t make sense to you because you don’t have a proper context for it. Whatever the cause, it simply comes across to you as an “odd” task to carry out. But you try to ignore these signs, and simply move on, thinking that, somehow, you will figure it out on the way.

这是一个正常的星期一早晨。 所有设计团队都在组织为期一周的任务，并在您工作的工作室或公司中审查各种项目的要求和截止日期。 突然，在分配给您的任务中，其中一项脱颖而出，但您还不知道为什么。 也许，任务要求太少或太抽象，可能导致多种解释。 也许，该任务来自您之前未使用过的客户或项目。 或者，也许任务的描述对您根本没有意义，因为您没有适当的上下文。 无论是什么原因，它都只是作为一项“奇特”任务来执行。 但是，您尝试忽略这些迹象，而继续前进，以为以某种方式您会发现它的。

You don’t know it yet, but you have made a big mistake. As the week passes, and the time comes when you finally need to work on your “odd task”, you find yourself feeling more and more lost about it. Where to start? How to tackle it? The more you wonder, the more lost you feel. That teeny-tiny task that seemed harmless in the Monday planning, has suddenly become a big headache for you. And, then, out of the blue, one of the most feared stages for any creative out there, shows up. Behold the creative block!

您尚不知道，但是您犯了一个大错误。 随着一周的过去，终于到了需要完成“奇异任务”的时机，您会发现自己对此感到越来越失落。 从哪儿开始？ 怎么解决呢？ 您越想知道，您就会感到越失落。 在星期一的计划中看起来无害的小任务突然让您头疼。 然后，突然出现了所有创意中最令人恐惧的阶段之一。 看一下创意区！

Does this situation ring a bell? I bet it does! It’s something that has happened to pretty much any designer around the globe at least once in their career path. But, don’t worry! Today I want to help you shed some of your insecurities away. Through this article, I’ll show you why not knowing how to solve a particular task may not be to blame on a lack of professional skills or knowledge. Moreover, you will see, that the root of most creative blocks comes from not asking the right questions at the right time.

这种情况会响起吗？ 我敢打赌！ 这是全球几乎所有设计师在其职业道路上至少发生过一次的事情。 但是，不用担心！ 今天，我想帮助您摆脱一些不安全感。 通过本文，我将向您展示为什么不了解解决特定任务的原因可能不是归咎于缺乏专业技能或知识。 此外，您会看到，大多数创意障碍的根源在于没有在正确的时间提出正确的问题。

VS。 为什么-问题类型 (How Vs. Why — Types of Questions)

Pretty much every organization out there will tell you that the work THEY are doing is important, and they will give you an abundant amount of reasons as to why it is. However, have you ever stopped to wonder about the job YOU are doing inside that organization? Is it truly important? Or relevant? What implications does it create? Why are you doing it, to begin with? What is the purpose behind it? And why do you keep doing it? These are fundamental questions any of us should try to answer for our own wellbeing, as exploring their answers may greatly benefit us both in our personal and professional spheres.

几乎每个组织都会告诉您他们正在做的工作很重要，并且他们会为您提供很多理由。 但是，您是否曾经停止怀疑您在该组织中所做的工作？ 真的重要吗？ 还是相关的？ 它会产生什么含义？ 首先，您为什么要这样做？ 它的目的是什么？ 为什么要继续这样做呢？ 这些是我们任何人都应该为自己的幸福而回答的基本问题，因为探索他们的答案可能会极大地有益于我们的个人和专业领域。

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard

“当然，我们的生活方式就是我们的生活方式。” —安妮·迪拉德(Annie Dillard)

Given that on average an adult human being devotes over 90,000 hours of their lives into the job they do, it is safe to say that most of us would value investing most, if not all, of that time in doing work that fulfills us. However, this may prove not to be such a simple goal to achieve, once that reality hits you. More often than not, designers tend to complain about being “blocked” at work, having all sorts of doubts and insecurities about the work they do, being unable to fully commit to the work they need to complete at a certain moment. Is this design good enough? Will it meet the client’s expectations? Could one of my colleagues have done a better job at it? Am I good enough at the job I do? Questions fill our minds, cloud our judgment, and, no matter what we try, it seems as if the black canvas in front of us simply rejects our creative endeavors.

鉴于成年人平均将90,000多个小时的生命投入到工作中，可以肯定地说，我们大多数人会珍惜这段时间中的大部分时间(即使不是全部时间)投入到使我们满意的工作上。 但是，一旦现实降临，这可能就不是那么简单的目标。 设计师常常会抱怨他们在工作中“受阻”，对他们所做的工作有种种疑问和不安全感，无法完全致力于他们在某一时刻需要完成的工作。 这个设计够好吗？ 会满足客户的期望吗？ 我的一位同事能做得更好吗？ 我的工作能力够吗？ 问题充斥着我们的思想，遮蔽了我们的判断力，无论我们尝试什么，似乎摆在我们面前的黑色画布都只是拒绝我们的创造性努力。

It is clear that you may not always be able to carry out tasks that excite you. However, you should be able, at all times, to understand WHY you are doing what you are doing. Because if you don’t, you will most likely fall into a dead-ends loop. Design requires a level of curiosity and imagination that can’t adequately be propelled from automatized thoughts and behaviors, but require meaningful intentions that make room for real innovation. Sitting in front of your desk, searching for references from others’ work, and “creating” a design base on those references, should hardly be considered as a creative effort.

很显然，您可能并不总是能够执行使您兴奋的任务。 但是，您应该始终能够了解为什么要执行自己的操作。 因为如果不这样做，您很可能陷入死胡同。 设计 需要一定程度的好奇心和想象力，不能从自动化的思想和行为中获得足够的推动力，但需要有意义的意图，才能为真正的创新留出空间。 坐在办公桌前，从他人的作品中寻找参考，并基于这些参考“创建”设计，几乎不应被认为是一项创造性的工作。

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not neglecting the importance of finding knowledge and enlightenment in the work done by others. However, there’s a big difference between inspiration and imitation. If the goal for those references you are seeking is only to serve as fuel to your creative process and outcomes, then everything is ok, but if you are seeking those references to take bits of every one of them and mix them into a “new design”, well… that’s a whole different story. You’ll find little room for personal and professional growth by imitating others, in comparison to what you could create by finding your own “spark”. Creating is not easy, but it can be extremely satisfying when done well.

不要误会我的意思，我并没有忽略在他人所做的工作中寻找知识和启发的重要性。 但是，灵感和模仿之间有很大的区别。 如果您要寻找的这些参考文献的目标只是为您的创作过程和成果提供动力，那么一切都很好，但是如果您正在寻找这些参考文献以将每一个参考文献的每一部分都融入其中，然后将它们混合成一个“新设计” ”，嗯……那是一个完全不同的故事。 与通过寻找自己的“火花”可以创造的东西相比，通过模仿他人，您将找不到个人和职业发展的空间。 创建起来并不容易，但是做得好的话可能会非常令人满意。

Now, comes the trick: you could ease a lot of your efforts as a designer if you could manage to balance the HOW and WHY questions behind your work. Some of the imperfect relationships designers have with their work often come from attributing an imbalanced level of importance to HOW they make their work, over WHY they are making it. Even though both questions are valid and important, one should discern when it is useful and necessary to ask each of them. HOW should follow WHY. Craft should follow purpose. Every decision should have a valid reason behind it. And before you even take a pen and paper, you should understand the underlying reasons for the task you are performing.

现在，诀窍到了：如果您可以设法平衡工作背后的HOW和WHY问题，则可以减轻作为设计师的工作量。 设计师与工作之间不完美的关系通常来自于将不平衡的重要性归因于他们如何进行工作，而不是为什么进行工作。 即使这两个问题都是有效且重要的，但应该辨别何时才是有用和必要的问题。 如何遵循为什么。 Craft.io应遵循目的。 每个决定都应有正当理由。 而且，在甚至拿笔和纸之前，您应该了解执行任务的根本原因。

The creative process could be said to resemble a ladder, where the bottom rung is the blank page and the top rung the final piece. In between, the artist climbs the ladder by making a series of choices and executing them. Many of our conversations about creative work are made lame because they concern only the top rung of the ladder — the finished piece. We must talk about those middle rungs, understanding that each step up the ladder is equal parts Why and How. To only entertain one is to attempt to climb a ladder with one foot: it may be possible, but it is a precarious task. — Frank Chimero

可以说创作过程就像一个梯子，底部的梯级是空白页，顶部的梯级是最后一页。 在这两者之间，艺术家通过做出一系列选择并执行它们来爬上阶梯。 我们有关创意工作的许多谈话都la脚，因为它们只涉及阶梯的最高梯级-成品。 我们必须谈论那些中间的梯级，理解梯子上的每一步都是为什么和如何相等。 只招待一个人就是试图用一只脚爬一个梯子：虽然可能，但这是一项艰巨的任务。 — 弗兰克·奇梅罗

By properly articulating WHY and HOW questions into your work, you will create a motion that allows you to confidently move forward at the same time that you keep your work firmly grounded. By asking first WHY you will gain a deep understanding of the work you are doing in a way that enables you to find a place for creativity and invention, and later, by asking HOW you will find new ways to refine your craft and elevate the form of your design.

通过在工作中正确表达“为什么”和“怎么做”问题，您将创建一个议案，使您可以自信地向前迈进，同时牢牢扎根工作。 首先要问为什么，您将以一种可以使您找到创造力和发明的地方的方式对自己正在做的工作有深刻的了解，随后，通过问如何将找到改进Craft.io和提升形式的新方法，您将获得深刻的了解您的设计。

在正确的时间提出正确的问题 (Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time)

Sometimes, not asking questions can come from fear. Fear of sounding naive or ignorant, fear of showing a lack of skills or knowledge, fear of going against the status quo, or even fear of not getting the answers we would like to hear from others — whether those others are our users, colleagues, or stakeholders. But we must be brave enough to ask others WHY. As designers, we strive to innovate for the better, and innovation always requires taking risks. But those risks need to be calculated, and they must have purpose and meaning in order to achieve the desired outcomes. We must ask WHY even if it makes us or others uncomfortable. Furthermore, we should definitely do it if a given question spurs all sorts of discomfort because that may be a sign of underlying issues permeating the very design we are working on.

有时候，不问问题可能来自恐惧。 害怕听起来天真或无知，害怕表现出缺乏技能或知识，害怕违背现状，甚至害怕得不到我们想从别人那里听到的答案-不管其他人是我们的用户，同事，或利益相关者。 但是我们必须勇敢地问别人为什么。 作为设计师，我们致力于创新，而创新总是需要冒险。 但是，这些风险需要进行计算，并且它们必须具有目的和意义才能实现预期的结果。 我们必须问为什么，即使这会使我们或其他人感到不舒服。 此外，如果给定的问题引起各种不适，我们绝对应该这样做，因为这可能是渗透到我们正在设计的基础问题的征兆。

Designers have a tendency to live fighting against the clock, I know. We are always running to meet deadlines and deliver outcomes on time. That’s why we may sometimes be inclined to ignore whatever questions may arise in regards to a task, and, just directly dive into the hands-on part of designing. But, sometimes, trying to save time may actually cost us a great deal more at the end. Some questions may be solved as we move on through the design process. However, some others, fundamentally, require being answered before you even open any sort of design software. Any time you receive a task of requirement you must understand where does it come from, what are the reasons behind it, how did that task end up in your log.

我知道，设计师倾向于与时俱进。 我们一直在努力按时完成任务并按时交付成果。 这就是为什么我们有时倾向于忽略与任务有关的任何问题，而直接进入设计的动手部分的原因。 但是，有时候，节省时间实际上可能会使我们最终付出更多的代价。 在我们继续进行设计过程时，可能会解决一些问题。 但是，从根本上讲，有些其他东西甚至在打开任何类型的设计软件之前都需要得到回答。 每当您收到要求任务时，您都必须了解它来自何处，其背后的原因是什么，该任务如何在日志中结束。

A matter that becomes clear ceases to concern us. — Friedrich Nietzsche

一件清楚的事情不再引起我们的关注。 - 弗雷德雷西尼采

发展观点 (Developing a Point of View)

A problem well-defined is a problem half solved. — Charles Kettering

定义明确的问题是已解决一半的问题。 —查尔斯·凯特琳

So what comes next? Be prepared to bravely ask WHY next time you find yourself in front of another “odd” task. Do not fear, because fear can hold your professional growth and improvements back. I am not going to uselessly lift your hopes. Maybe, the results of your inquiry might not suit you at first, but they will open up possibilities to create better design outcomes. I will share with you a simple but effective exercise that you could (and ideally should) apply at the beginning of every design task you receive. The exercise is very straightforward. You just have to answer three questions with regards to the assigned task:

那么接下来呢？ 准备好勇敢地问下一次您为什么要面对另一个“奇特”任务时的原因。 不要害怕，因为恐惧会阻碍您的专业成长和进步。 我不会无用的提起您的希望。 也许您的询问结果起初可能不适合您，但它们将为创造更好的设计结果提供可能性。 我将与您分享一个简单但有效的练习，您可以(理想情况下)在收到每个设计任务时就应用该练习。 练习非常简单。 您只需要回答有关已分配任务的三个问题：

1. What problem are you solving?

1.您要解决什么问题？

2. Who has this problem?

2.谁有这个问题？

3. What do you want to achieve by solving it?

3.您想解决什么问题？

This exercise is called developing a POV (Point of View), a perspective of the problem you are working on that results in an actionable problem statement. A short and concise definition of the problem, that allows you to better find a place for new and innovative solutions. The scheme of the questions can, of course, be adapted depending on the design challenge you are facing. Maybe your task is no about solving a problem, but seizing an opportunity, or exploring a possibility for improvement. Nevertheless, the basic pattern should always be:

此练习称为开发POV (观点)，这是您正在研究的问题的观点，它导致可采取行动的问题陈述 。 对问题的简短定义，使您可以更好地找到新的创新解决方案。 当然，可以根据您面临的设计挑战来调整问题的方案。 也许您的任务不是解决问题，而是抓住机会或探索改进的可能性。 但是，基本模式应始终为：

WHAT [ problem / opportunity / challenge exists ]

什么[存在问题/机会/挑战]

WHO [ is being impacted, or could be impacted, by it ]

世卫组织[正在受到或可能受到其影响]

WHY [ trying to resolve / explore / implement it is relevant]

为什么[试图解决/探索/实施它是相关的]

By asking yourself these questions, you will get into a mindset that pushes you to think about your task as something beyond a simple requirement. You will perceive it as a complex set of decisions, that may impact and have consequences on the final outcome, and which deserve a second thought. At first, this might feel like too much of a hustle, but the effort put into it will give you a foundation on which you can lean on as you develop the task. And you will thank yourself later when, in front of a blank canvas, you feel inspired rather than daunted by the possibilities it beholds.

通过问自己这些问题，您将进入一种心态，促使您将任务视为超越简单要求的事物。 您会将其视为一组复杂的决策，这些决策可能会影响最终结果并对其产生影响，值得您三思。 刚开始时，这似乎有点麻烦，但是投入的精力将为您提供一个基础，您可以在完成任务时依靠它。 稍后，当您在一块空白的画布上感到鼓舞，而不是被它所看到的可能性所吓倒时，您将感谢自己。

“And, what if I can not answer them? Then, what?” — some of you might wonder. There are two main possibilities when this happens. First, the task makes sense but you might not have a deep understanding of it, so you don’t know what might be the best path to follow through. If this is the case, you can seek support from your colleagues and try to gain knowledge and context about the reason why the task was conceived in the first place. Second, and the least pleasant scenario one can encounter, the task simply does not make sense. It doesn’t serve a real purpose, and, therefore, its future development may have unwanted repercussions. Being the least compromising repercussion, but still highly frustrating, to discover that the task does not have any impact at all. In other words, it was useless to do it from the very beginning.

“而且，如果我无法回答他们该怎么办？ 那呢？ -你们中有些人可能会感到奇怪。 发生这种情况时，主要有两种可能性。 首先，这项任务很有意义，但是您可能对此没有深刻的了解，因此您不知道什么是最好的遵循方法。 在这种情况下，您可以寻求同事的支持，并尝试获得有关任务最初构思的原因的知识和背景。 其次，这是人们可能遇到的最不愉快的情况，这项任务根本没有意义。 它没有真正的目的，因此，其未来的发展可能会产生不良影响。 发现该任务根本没有任何影响时，它是影响最小的结果，但仍然令人沮丧。 换句话说，从一开始就没有用。

Nobody wants to lose their time on meaningless efforts. Thus, I would advise you, if you are ever assigned a task that has no real or useful purpose, to speak up as soon as possible. Take another leap, using some of that bravery that you started to build since the very moment you ask WHY, and raise a red flag, by reaching out to your superiors, before it’s too late. This, of course, must be done and founded on strong and persuasive arguments that allow you to get everyone on the same page. If all goes well, you may save yourself and your team, time you can invest in focusing on the work that trully matters.

没有人愿意在毫无意义的努力上浪费时间。 因此，如果您被分配的任务没有真正或有用的目的，我建议您尽快说出来。 采取另一个飞跃，使用自从您问WHY的那一刻起就开始建立的一些勇气，并在为时已晚之前与您的上级联系，举起红旗。 当然，这必须基于强大而有说服力的论据来完成，并建立在这些论据的基础上，这些论据可以使每个人都在同一页面上。 如果一切顺利，则可以节省您自己和您的团队的时间，您可以投入时间专注于重要的工作。

A great POV keeps you on track. It helps you design for your users and their needs. If you neglect to define your POV, you may end up getting lost in the ideation processes — Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang on Interaction Design Foundation

出色的POV使您步入正轨。 它可以帮助您针对用户及其需求进行设计。 如果您忽略定义POV，则可能会迷失在构思过程中-Interaction Design Foundation上的Rikke Friis Dam和Teo Yu Siang

Understanding the purpose behind the design work you make gives you more confidence to explore and be innovative. By answering, from the beginning, any kind of questions you might have regarding a certain challenge, you clear the way for the next steps to come in the creative process. So, be mindful and don’t let assumptions and doubts cloud your mind. Asking WHY is the first step, but, what you decide to do with the answers you get, defines you and your work as a creative. If you want your work to matter, you should ask yourself how much of you can be found in it. Do you speak through your designs? Or do you let others do the talking?

了解您所做的设计工作的目的使您更有信心进行探索和创新。 通过从一开始就回答您可能遇到的有关特定挑战的任何类型的问题，您便为下一步进入创意过程扫清了道路。 因此，请保持警惕，不要让假设和疑问笼罩您的思想。 问为什么是第一步，但是，您决定如何使用所获得的答案将您和您的工作定义为一个创意。 如果您希望自己的工作很重要，则应问自己可以在其中找到多少人。 您通过设计说话吗？ 还是让别人讲话？

Life is too short to sing to the tune of others. So sing a song of your own.

人生苦短，无法唱别人的歌。 所以唱一首自己的歌。