Different people put themselves at the center of their design work in different ways, but here are some examples I noticed in my own practice:
When I mocked up designs that looked or sounded “good” only in English, I was centering myself and uncentering the billions of people in the world for whom English isn’t a first language.
When I used mostly Western artists in mockups meant to feature the breadth of the Spotify catalog, I was centering myself and uncentering the billions of fans whose favorite artists aren’t from the West.
When I presented my designs predominantly on high-end, large-display iOS devices, I was centering myself and uncentering the majority of the mobile phone users in the world on smaller, lower-resolution devices.
When I delivered design specs to engineers without the alternate text that VoiceOver or TalkBalk need to read aloud, I was centering myself and uncentering the millions of people using assistive technologies.
When I believed that high-quality design training could only be found in Silicon Valley, I was centering myself and uncentering the deep knowledge to be gained from designers in regions like China and Africa.
Designing for not-myself meant closely examining the perspectives I held, and how they affected the product and design decisions I made. I’m a daughter of Korean immigrants in America, which gives me a head start, since I naturally straddle two cultures and can see through two distinctly different cultural lenses. It also helps that I started my design career in Mumbai, India. Living in such an unfamiliar environment forced me to reevaluate my assumptions constantly. But I still think I have a lot more work to do.
