If good design requires failure, how can designers f*ck up when failure isn’t considered an option? Edison famously said, “I failed my way to success.” In the interactive world, we’ve all heard the buzz phrases about failing fast, and how failure–particularly in the form of prototyping–can be a powerful design tool. But what about real failure? We’ve all experienced projects that never got off the ground, or crashed and burned stunningly. We don’t put them in our portfolios. We only talk about them when we’ve had one drink too many. What can we learn from our embarrassments? And are there really things we can learn by failing, especially in the agency and consulting worlds, where we are hired for our expertise, and infallibility? http://interaction14.ixda.org/program/wednesday/51-f-ck-up-design

1. TOWARDS A F*CK UP M@N1F3STØ
How do we incorporate f*cking up into
the user experience design process?

2. Grawlix
!
Typographical symbols
standing for profanities,
appearing in dialogue
balloons in place of actual
dialogue. Invented by
American cartoonist Mort
Walker.!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Walker!

3. The Romance of Failure

4. Ben Huh
One Reality of Failure
Setup: Huh was a 22-year-old journalism major when he moved to
Chicago and founded software analytics firm Raydium in January
2000... he cobbled together $750,000 over two rounds.
"Uh-oh" moment: Eighteen months later, he hit a wall. "You're hopeful
to the end, but we were flat out of money and couldn't meet payroll,"
he says... For two weeks, he says, he could barely leave his room.
The way out: Six years passed before Huh decided to buy I Can Haz
Cheezburger and begin building his funny-blog empire... "You know
how painful it can be, but you do it anyway," he says. "I think you are
better prepared, mentally and financially, but you never know if it's
going to be successful. That's called maturity.”
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225204#hipswap
But ultimately, he succeeded...

5. Another Reality of Failure

6. SO"
in our world...

7. Failure is Fine
For entrepreneurs & startups
When it’s a means to an ends
When overcoming an obstacle adds to a success story
When the risk of failure is assumed & accepted by the $
people
! When the creator has longevity, endurance, and sticks
with the project
! When you learn from it
!
!
!
!

8. Failure Sucks
!
!
!
!
!
!
For consultants & agencies
When it’s the final word
When you can’t see see past the obstacle
When asses need to be covered
When the designer doesn’t or can’t stick it out
When you can’t learn from it

9. BUT"
in the greater world of creativity & art...

10. FAILURE ROCKS!

11. Failure Is The Heart of Creativity
Failure is awesome/acceptable when we call it:
• Play
• Experimentation
• Fun
When it fuels us
When we don’t fear it, or fear it, but don’t shy away from it
When it leads us to do something no one’s ever done before
When we learn from it

12. I RISK FAILURE"
ALL THE TIME

13. I Risk Failure
When I play music:
• Will I keep time, hit the right notes, play “right”?
When I get on stage or in front of a camera:
• Will they laugh at me? Or not laugh with me?
When I write:
• Will anyone read it? Do I have anything to say?
When I run workshops:
• Will any of you really care about any of this?

14. BUT

15. Because I Risk Failure I Gain Experience
I learn new things & have new experiences
I find new joys
I meet new people
I do things I’ve never done before
I make movies, play music, act, write, run workshops
I lose fear
I take more risks—even risk the next failure
And, consequentially, I get better at creating

16. SO

17. WHY IS IT SO
HARD FOR"
ME TO FAIL AT