Wilson Miner, a designer who I was unfamiliar with prior to this video, blew me away with this talk. While listening, there was no bias. Why, you ask? I didn’t know that he worked on the first comprehensive redesign of Apple.com in 2006 or that he is currently working on the digital music service, Rdio. More than his prestige, his concepts shed light to the power and possibilities that are available to us with design in addition to leading a talk that echoed the idea that we “shape our environment when we build.”
Not only did he name and state many facts, but he connected with human emotions. That’s a talk. That’s something I’d like to hear in person.
Miner’s anecdote about his father’s car: how it was passed down to him and how he promised that if he ever were to receive it, he’d never sell it. That connection lies much deeper (and more special) than any piece or part under the engine’s hood. The car was not only a vehicle of defining a generation, but also a vehicle of defining a relationship between a father and son.
It’s stories like that which power these products. It’s what makes design, and creating, absolutely magnificent. All of the work put in feels earned after working while office hours have expired (which usually, for me, consists of staring at a screen for hours on end. Or, if you’re really doing something right, staying overnight in a tool shed or garage).
The bottom line is emphasizing the fact that you can impact lives without having to physically be there is mind-blowing. To put a little bit of your values and yourself in the product that you’re creating that can change communication, behavior and/or mood of another individual(s) on the other side of the planet… it’s definitely worth it.