Design artifacts are the journey, not the destination

The Playbook #7: Be obsessed with your users more than the artifacts

This post is part of the design playbook, a collection of tactics, approaches, and mindsets about design by Thomas Budiman.

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Design artifacts are not the end goal.

They are just vehicles for building solutions to the problem you are solving that takes you from abstract problem space to concrete solutions that enrich people’s lives.

Be obsessed with your artifacts just because they will:

• Help you to synthesize all the information you got.

• Manage everyone’s expectations.

• Communicate your ideas to others.

Find out how you can use wireframes, user journey maps, or any artifacts you’ve created to clarify things, build understanding with your team, and craft the best solution.

Don’t just present them. Use them as tools to seek advice and to collaborate with others.

Your obsession with pushing pixels to perfection is only a fragment of your process of manifesting the best solution.

Push your solutions beyond your laptop screen — because they won’t stay on Figm forever.

Be obsessed with your users more than your artifacts.

Because, in the end, your goal is to see your solution in the hands of the users–and those artifacts will take you there.