About fluff and stuff

Picture of our cleaning storage and the Little Big details that make me smile.

I have always had a slight level of OCD, in cleaning the house, choosing clothes that fit together, chosing furniture, chosing watches, ... and of course in my work.

Being slightly neurotic has some advantages: it pushes you to push yourself to a next level. You won't be satisfied with the first idea, you'll mull it over and over multiple times, you'll explore crazy edge cases, you'll throw it all away and start again from another perspective,... And each time you mull over that idea, it evolves, grows, declines, evolves again again until you reach a level where you're actally certain enough of its value but also aware enough of its weaknesses. And that's when you need to go into solutions and dig your hands in the dirt.

Fine lines and Little Big details

But there is a very, very fine line in between. A line that's hard to recognise, hard to acknowledge. It's a line between being productive and actually improving to the best you can on one hand, but on the other, to break everything by not moving to the concrete, by overthinking and over-mulling again and again. Only to discover it will bring you right back to where you started.

As a designer, it's crucial that you learn to see this line, that you see it coming and even navigate towards it. It is there that you open opportunities to craft experiences where the little big details get room and make delight. But one must recognise it when you've reached it and at that moment, you need to create a breakpoint.

You will feel confident enough to start thinking in solutions while being aware that there is never only one solution for any design problem ever. Being aware that there is no such thing as a perfect solution - a perfectionists aleph or Godot - there is just the best solution in these circumstances at this time with this input and with these possibilities and opportunities.

This is a plea to push and find your line but recognise it and know when to move. Go for one solution and the value it has, and let go of what might distract you. because in the end, what really matters is the outcome, the result, the "stuff", and not the "fluff" that brought you there.

So fold your cloths and order them by the rainbow, because you know it will make you smile each time you see it. But don't get lost when one color is in the wash and let the itch go. That doesn't make you smile anymore, so focus on what does.