Triton

As a designer, you'll often get tasks which are vague. “Can you make this activity feed more informative?” or “Can this page looks cleaner?”. In most other disciplines, you'd have to know exactly what they mean by this. You don't have to do “Stakeholder Interviews” for every problem that comes your way.

Client: Can you design A?

Me: Can you define A? Client: A is...like B.

Me (thoughtfully): Hmm, but maybe answer 20 questions about it? Client: Okay.

Me: I think what you need is C! Client: Hmm, maybe.

Me (after 10 days): I think I've cracked it. Client: This is not what I had in mind.

Me: Maybe you should've explained it better. Client: Maybe I should find another designer.

As a designer, you can find the correct solution to a vague problem by iterating. Simply design the simplest solution and keep it low-fidelity. Ask the person if this is what they wanted and they'll end up explaining you things that even they hadn't articulated the first time.

Client: Can you design A?

Me (after 30 mins): Something like this? Client: No, I meant B.

Me (after 2 hrs): This? Client: Yes, but make it more like C.

Me (after 4 hrs): You're going to love this! Client: This is great, let's add some D to this.

Me (after 4 days): I think I've cracked it. Client: This is exactly what I wanted! You understand me so well.