BGDRobinsonRebecca

This revolutionary documentary by InVision, a collaborative design platform that creates "user experiences" for companies like Netflix and Uber, explains what design philosophies Facebook, Google, and other up-and-coming startups use in their products and how these principles have lead to their success. This series of interviews reveals a controversial idea; that design is not art, it is problem solving. Art asks questions, whereas design gives solutions. At the center of all product considerations should be the intended customer, and it is the customer that a successful designer designs for. Design disruptors don't follow trends, they create them and push boundaries.

These fifteen companies interviewed often utilize design tactics that upend traditional thinking. For example, AirBnB uses Disney-style storyboards in their planning to emphasize the emotional relationship a customer has using their app, and in selecting a vacation destination. Facebook has a "2G Tuesday", where all employees use the 2G network on their phones in order to better understand the internet experience for upcoming markets. Likewise, Spotify employees use the Free plan for a week occasionally to stay in touch with the first impression Spotify makes upon people.

The production value of the film itself was really high! A lot of thought went into designing the menus and transitions. You could tell it was made by design people. The information itself was really dense, which is good but also sometimes the cluttered feeling made it a little hard to follow along at times. It was cool hearing from all these popular companies, specifically about how rethinking design made them so successful, but sometimes I feel a little disconnected from them. There's a danger that, when you design a perfectly simplified user experience you, in intending to create something appealing to all, just end up with conformity.