The Design Squiggle: From uncertainty to clarity

Some of our work is doing design, and some of our work is explaining how and why you do design. This conversation often comes back to how it feels to be in a design process: that edge of your seat uncertainty that comes with early process complexity, the gradual clarity as we learn and adapt.

There is probably no better known way of visualising this process than ‘the Squiggle’, pictured in the header of this newsletter. Former IDEO designer Damien Newman created it in the early 2000s when he was given 30 seconds to convince a client of the value of the design process. He labeled it Research & Synthesis → Concept / Prototype → Design.

The good news is he’s made the illustration free to use and has a really interesting site about its history. So next time you need to explain how a design process feels, feel free to squiggle.

The Process of Design Squiggle is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-ND 3.0 US License.