Most people outside our industry have no perception of what the job of design actually is. That's unfortunate, but OK. What's worse is that many in our own industry don't understand what their core job is. No matter what kind of designer you are, the relevant approach and core skill set should always be the same. It's just the mastery of a domain, a set of techniques and constraints, that differ. That core skill is communication.

1. Design is
Communication
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

2. “Above all else, design is communication. It’s about getting ideas and
information across from one to another.”
@thepascalheynol
Pascal Heynol
Senior Experience Designer and Project Lead @ USEEDS°
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

3. What is design?
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

4. View from
the outside
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Rob Curran on Unsplash

5. Design is pretty
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

6. Design is weird
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Steam Series Furniture by Bae Se Hwa

7. Design is art
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Alex Smith on Unsplash

8. Design is impractical
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Juicy Salif Citrus Juicer by Alessi, designed by Philippe Starck

9. Design is fashion
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash

10. View from
our industry
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Jj Mendez on Unsplash

11. Design is a process
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

12. Design is a craft
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by malcolm lightbody on Unsplash

13. Design is thinking
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Will H McMahan on Unsplash

14. Design is wireframes
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash

15. Design is wireframes
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash
& flows & icons & …

16. Design is discussions
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Article by Slava Shestopalov on Medium

17. Design is digital
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Georgie Cobbs on Unsplash

18. Why does it
matter?
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

19. Cognitive dissonance
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Aditya Wardhana on Unsplash

20. Semantics matters
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Alexandra on Unsplash

21. My Story
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

22. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

23. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

25. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Usability Engineering Center Nuremberg

26. Work work work work work
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

27. Design is
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
communication

28. Design
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
communication=

29. Why
communication?
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

30. Communication
“…a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a
common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.”
- merriam-webster.com
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

31. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Thomas Quine on Wikipedia.org
Outlasting communication

32. Growing the group
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Story from Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari | Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

33. Trusting strangers
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Story from Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari | Photo by Nikita Andreev on Unsplash

34. What is
communication?
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

35. Sender
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

36. Sender Receiver
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

37. Sender Receiver
Message
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

38. Sender Receiver
Message
Encoding
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

39. Sender Receiver
Message
Encoding
Medium
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

40. Sender Receiver
Message
Encoding
Medium
Noise
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

41. Sender Receiver
Message
DecodingEncoding
Medium
Noise
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

42. Sender Receiver
Message
DecodingEncoding
Medium
Noise
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol From Shannon and Weaver - Standard View of Communication

43. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

44. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Matthew Brodeur on Unsplash
Levels of problems
The technical problem
The semantic problem
The effectiveness problem

45. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Fernando Mateo on Unsplash
Barriers to communication
Physiological barriers
Cultural barriers
Individual linguistic ability
Domain knowledge

46. "To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way
we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our
communication with others.”
- Tony Robbins
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

47. Communication
through design
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

48. Sender Receiver
Message
DecodingEncoding
Medium
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

49. Sender Receiver
Message
DecodingEncoding
Medium
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

50. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
What
design
communicates
Affordances
Values
Content

51. Affordances
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

52. Values
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

53. Content
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

54. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Heavy Duty Flexi Chair Black - makro.co.za

55. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Julian Hakes “Mojito” Twisted Sandals

56. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Wired Magazine (August 2010)

57. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

58. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Google Trips for Android

59. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
Example:
Re-Design Search

60. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Facebook OS X by Lorenzo Bocchi

61. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Google Search

62. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
VALUESAFFORDANCES CONTENT
COMMUNICATION GOAL

63. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
VALUESAFFORDANCES CONTENT
COMMUNICATION GOAL
Communicate the information that is most relevant
to the user and make it easily accessible.

64. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
VALUESAFFORDANCES CONTENT
COMMUNICATION GOAL
2 3 1
Communicate the information that is most relevant
to the user and make it easily accessible.

65. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
VALUESAFFORDANCES CONTENT
COMMUNICATION GOAL
2 3 1
- Accessing a relevant result
- Search for other result types
- Interact with Knowledge
Graph
- Show more results
- Reflect brand image
- Speed
- Transparency
- Efficiency
- Relevant results
- Different result types
- Clear distinction between data
types
Communicate the information that is most relevant
to the user and make it easily accessible.

66. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Google Search

67. Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Joao Tzanno on Unsplash
Common problems
The sender isn’t skilled in the domain
The receiver can’t decode a message
The message doesn’t resonate

68. Consider computer skills
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
5% 26% 29% 14%
Level 3
Level 2 Level 1 Below 1
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/

69. Consider computer skills
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
5% 26% 29% 14%
Level 3 - YOU
Level 2 Level 1 Below 1
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/

70. Consider computer skills
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
5% 26% 26%29% 14%
Level 3 - YOU
Level 2 Level 1 Below 1 None
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/

71. Sender Receiver
Message
DecodingEncoding
Medium
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol
Noise

72. Framing
communication
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

73. 1. Understand your
audience
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

74. 2. Define your
message
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

75. 3. Encode for
the medium
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

76. 4. Measure
reception
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Damon Lam on Unsplash

77. 5. Iterate message
and encoding
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol Photo by Jamison McAndie on Unsplash

78. You can design
everything!
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

79. “The single biggest problem in communication
is the illusion that it has taken place.”
- George Bernard Shaw
Design is Communication | Pascal Heynol | @thepascalheynol

80. Pascal Heynol
Senior Experience Designer and Project Lead @ USEEDS°
@thepascalheynol
@thepascalheynol
thepascalheynol@gmail.com