Design & plan

#58 - Apr.2023

Designing and planning require very different drivers but yet we tend to mix them up all the time. Defining actions, deadlines, and dependencies, on its own, is not designing for a problem.

A plan relies on a key assumption that the problem is defined, well-understood, and aligned across the team. Planning is then laying out a strategy on the most efficient way of [building, developing, crafting] something.

Designing, on the other hand, is about deeply understanding what you are trying to solve and come with a framework to deliver the solution. Is not only about efficiency but gathering insights, discovery trends, and setting hypotheses.

Both live in constant tension within an iterative process even if their mindsets are different. The secret is to keep track of the problem definition before committing to an execution strategy. Avoid being very efficient at building the wrong thing.