Notion AI assistant aka Little Dude Thanks to @ilya_pekhterev for the tip Roman Muradov shared the process of searching for a suitable visu…

Notion AI assistant aka Little Dude Thanks to @ilya_pekhterev for the tip Roman Muradov shared the process of searching for a suitable visual image on his Instagram. It is curious to look at them. How much work you need to do "into the drawer" to arrive at a good option. Dozens, sometimes hundreds of iterations! And in front of us are results that live for years. I never stop being surprised by where, in our Russian culture of product design, the paradigm comes from: "I made three different layouts, I am great. I made five - give me a bonus." No, guys. The first layout is: "Yandex, YouTube, Spotify did it this way. This is definitely right." You do not know what goals they are trying to achieve. And for some reason, to achieve your own, you run down someone else's road. Why? The second layout is: "I was possessed by the charm of the tool: I can make gradient buttons, add noise, apply effects. Check it out." If you remove all the chrome, what remains? The third layout is: "I did not look at what my neighbor is doing. I do not remember what I myself did yesterday in a neighboring scenario. I am a blank slate, a new task, a new screen, this is a field for creativity." Creativity is wonderful. Did you discuss these expectations at the start? The fourth layout is: "I am afraid/forgot/did not know and did not ask the question: why are we doing this? I mechanically put more controls on the screen. Well yes, now the text is 12 pt so everything fits." Sorry, not sorry, this is not design. And not the role of a designer; this is the role of a self-checkout. Need a bag? I rejoice when an art director or designer comes with the whole constellation of layouts, and especially with the fourth option. The option people are waiting for is often forgotten. "Well, they want nonsense. The solution is obviously weak." For the team to see the potential, for there to be a dialogue to discuss weak and strong options, they all need to be on the table. Then it will be possible to productively circle the liked solutions with a marker. Otherwise, your partners will be in the meeting with one feeling: "I was not heard." And the dialogue will not happen