I talked about focus in a previous post. Sunight can burn through metal with enough focus. Knowing why means you understand how it works. Its story is clear; it’s power – dramatic!
The why is more important, and more powerful than the how. In design it helps us uncover the key to a problem and moves us from discovery to action. The why gives the design a reason for being.
The why makes you care. The how does make you learn something, but it doesn’t hit you in the gut. The how is mechanical, methodical, and a little bit uninspiring – like the plot of a novel. The why draws you in and inspires you to look deeper.
In a software project, we start with users, and their journeys, and what holds it all together and makes us care about it is why they are doing what they do. What are their goals? What makes them happy?
“I want to get my job done.”
“Why?”
“So that I can move on to the next one.”
“Why?”
“So that I can help my team succeed!”
Ask enough why questions and you can get to the bottom of it. The root of the matter. Teamwork; focused energy for a common goal.
“(A why statement is) the compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do.”
- Simon Sinek
As a designer I’m always searching for the why. It used to drive my parents crazy asking it repeatedly. One benefit is it’s led me down some interesting roads, and it means I find inspiration in mundane things. A bus ride. Golden hour. Familiar birds at the bay we swim in on those cold mornings.
Asking why got me here today. I get to hear stories and figure out how to help people get their jobs done.