You're facing conflicting design opinions in a diverse team. How do you make the right creative choices?

By facilitating brainstorming sessions team members can share and discuss their ideas openly, which can lead to innovative solutions. Using collaborative tools like design thinking workshops and decision matrices helps evaluate and prioritize ideas effectively. Also, fostering a culture of experimentation through prototypes or mock-ups can provide practical insights and lead to better design outcomes.

Having team members from multiple backgrounds allows them to look at a problem from a different perspective or possibly already have a solution applied in a different industry. What is the norm in the industry might have been the best solution at the time but steps must always be taken towards continual improvement.

When facing conflicting design opinions in a diverse team, the key is to cultivate a culture of respect and open-mindedness. Encourage every team member to voice their ideas and challenge one another, ensuring all perspectives are considered. Central to resolving these conflicts is a clear focus on the end-user; their needs must guide the decision-making process. After thorough discussion, it's crucial to make a decisive call that aligns with the product’s core vision and values. This approach not only resolves conflicts but also harnesses the collective creativity of the team for innovative outcomes.

Diversity is one skill that comes with experience. You can't maximize its potentials for your project if you are an autocratic leader. Cultivating an environment where your team brings out their uniqueness will help you get the job done faster and create a good and healthy work environment where everyone is productive and happy.

It's great to have different opinions within a team, as it can generate multiple creative ideas as long as everyone understands and is committed to the common goal. Everyone needs to work together in a spirit of collaboration to achieve this goal. Ultimately, with the team's belief in teamwork and dedication to a common goal, everyone should agree upon the final idea, and success should be attributed to the entire group rather than a specific individual.

En un equipo diverso siempre habrá opiniones contradictorias; por ello, las herramientas elegidas para la ponderación deben considerar criterios de evaluación según los objetivos establecidos. Sin claridad en estos objetivos, las ideas se dispersarán en todas direcciones sin dar en el blanco.

I have a lot of respect for creative people and endeavours and I think that’s where things start. People (HPNAs for sure) take pride in their work and when they’re on mission are really putting something of themselves into their work product. Perhaps this is even more the case with creatives. Recognising that and recognising that both the process as well as the outcome matter is an important first step. No one like winning ‘participation awards’ or being told their work was great but we are going in a different direction, but if the base (earned) respect is there and there is clarity in the decision making process to resolve the conflict things become more manageable.

Les objectifs clairs et communiqués rassemblent. Les objectifs clairs c'est emmener les membres vers la même direction. Les idées peuvent se disperser, les objectifs les rassemblent.

Focus on what the project needs, not just what people like. When your team can't agree on a design, think about what the project is trying to achieve and who will use it. Choose the design that best helps the project and the users. Example: If your team can't decide on a website's colors, think about what colors will look good, be easy to read, and fit the website's purpose.

Todo começo precisa de um onboard bem feito. Para que os conflitos sejam resolvidos mais rapidamente e as pessoas colaborem efetivamente elas precisam se sentir parte do processo. Minha sugestão é antes do iniciar o projeto terem uma sessão de onboard, onde cada um se coloca, apresentando como poderá colaborar e já oferecendo ao grupo dicas de como trabalha melhor em grupo, como uma autoavaliação. Exemplo: cada um escreve em post it o que funciona e o que não funciona quando trabalha em um grupo. E fazem combinados de colaboração em cima disso. Investir tempo no onboard do grupo pode salvar um tempo precioso no desenrolar do projeto.

When collaboration is a core value, teams are better equipped to navigate and resolve conflicts. Open communication and mutual respect enable constructive discussions and compromise. When individuals feel that their contributions are valued and that they can rely on their colleagues, it enhances team cohesion and morale. Collaboration taps into the collective intelligence of the group, bringing together diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences. This diversity can lead to more comprehensive and effective design solutions.

Trabalhar em equipe é um desafio significativo. Gerenciar um time composto por pessoas com diferentes pensamentos e perspectivas pode ser difícil; o conflito é inevitável. No entanto, quando há colaboração, essas diversas perspectivas se unem para gerar ideias inovadoras. A promoção da ação colaborativa atua como um elo entre a diversidade e o respeito, sendo o motor essencial para o crescimento e evolução do time. Quando isso acontece, todos ganham!

Es totalmente un punto crítico la fabricación de prototipos, ya que la impresión 3D es fundamental para no hacer gastos innecesarios y hacer las correcciones pertinentes antes de siquiera diseñar moldes y procesos de fabricación, lo cual garantiza un mejor diseño; el cual al ser un prototipo puede ser sometido a pruebas antes de dar una respuesta para validar o descartar el diseño.

Ao criar protótipos, podemos visualizar e experimentar soluções de forma tangível, identificando problemas e oportunidades de melhoria antes da implementação final. Esse processo ajuda a refinar conceitos, reduzir riscos e tomar decisões mais informadas, resultando em designs mais funcionais e alinhados às necessidades reais do usuário.

Prototyping has always been a very strong tool in Design Thinking. A physical mock up or a enacted situation to depict how a particular design would work, feel, function perhaps really opens up a whole new perspective for everyone involved not only to test their design BUT also for all levels of the team ( the diversity we just spoke of ) to actually understand and visualise the solution more clearly. It also helps to actually test with a sample set for moving to the next stage of iterations.

Creative work, whether is about graphic design or industrial design, has an aesthetic element, which often leads to more subjective opinions. Running some testings on new product designs - such as materials and colors - and on new marketing creative concepts - such as visuals, colors, messaging - can limit the inside-out approach of a business. The voice of customers and partners becomes crucial if the goal of the new product or marketing campaign is to make a great impact in the market. Adopting a user-centered approach (or outside-in approach) not only provides the business with earlier customers’ insights, it fosters community among users and it might create opportunities when launching the new product or campaign in the market.

In addition to what Hari mentioned, you could potentially create decisions logs informed by the prototyping done. The decision logs must evaluate each idea critically across dimensions such as tech feasibility for a basic implementation, Algo complexity owing to domain requirement, scaling needs (till what scale do you expect a solution to work beyond which you’ll May need to redesign), security considerations, test-ability , cost among others.. You could add or remove dimensions based on your specific problem statement.

Set a clear decision-making process from the start—whether by consensus, majority vote, or a designated leader. This transparency ensures everyone knows how decisions will be made, minimizing conflicts and ensuring fair consideration of all opinions.

Clear processes help ensure that all opinions are considered equally, preventing dominance by louder voices and promoting a balanced evaluation of all ideas. A well defined process offers transparency, encourages accountability, reduces conflicts,  promotes consistency and improves communication.

One thing I have found very useful is to first think 'Outside in' from the client's POV to decide what is going to be the best choice. Secondly, construct the decision-making process such that the best decision for the organization can win and not be influenced by job title or seniority.

The decision-making process can be simplified with the application of the Six Thinking Hats method or the reverse brainstorming method. Six Thinking Hats encourages participants to explore different perspectives by metaphorically wearing different hats, each representing a distinct mode of thinking, whereas reverse brainstorming enables you to eliminate unnecessary aspects from the design

Obviamente cuando existen diferencias, debe existir una forma de tomar decisiones y esto debe estar claro para que se evite que éstas se tomen de forma arbitraria, sino que se tomen sobre un sistema definido, que puede integrar por ejemplo matrices de priorización de criterios, votación o desde las jerarquías. Pueden ser coordinación entre éstas, pero debe ser claro para todos.

I so feel that REFLECTION is THE key post the choices we make as a leader and as a team player. Individual and team reflection consistently cements the culture of "employee fulfillment" apart from reinforcing continuous learning

After launching their new app, the design team eagerly collected user feedback. They noticed that while users loved the visuals, they struggled with navigation. Nisarg and Rajat, who had worked on the design, held review meeting. They acknowledged the issue and brainstormed improvements. They quickly adapted by simplifying the navigation and making adjustments based on user suggestions. This willingness to reflect on their work and adapt led to a smoother, more intuitive app experience. Their ability to pivot in response to real-world feedback highlighted the importance of continuous improvements in design.

Reflection and adaptation promote a culture of continuous learning. Encouraging team members to reflect on their work and share insights fosters personal and professional growth, leading to a more skilled and knowledgeable team. Lessons learned from past projects can be applied to streamline and enhance future design processes. By embedding this reflective practice into your team’s routine, you can enhance the effectiveness of your design choices, improve future projects, and cultivate a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

Incorporate reflective breaks where the team pauses to reflect on the design process and the decisions made so far. This can provide valuable insights and reduce the intensity of conflicts by giving space for thoughtful consideration.

Tener clara las metas finales a las que se quieren aproximar es fundamental. Objetivos definidos es importante, pero en el proceso pueden surgir variables no consideras que cambiarán toda la visión de lo planeado. Casi todos se enfocan en el resultado, pero el proceso puede ser igual de importante, dependiendo de aquello que se investiga, sobre todo en la innovación social, el proceso si importa. No se trata solo de prototipar para ver la usabilidad y validez de un producto o servicio.