BBVA + IDEO
Out of context: Reply #27
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- luckyorphan0
back @ zarkonite:
I agree. I'm mostly sure that they're taking care of those with disabilities. But I'm surprised that wasn't addressed in the video, frankly, given how important it is—especially for a bank—to show that they're thinking of the disabled. Also, I'm only 'mostly' sure because I've seen far too many large corporations produce work that supposed to be for everyone, but isn't due to an oversight or pure hubris.
I have no doubt that IDEO and their partners needed the two years to get the job done. But I have a feeling that the first six months of that was spent in legal and research, the next nine months were spent in design concepts and implementation, and the last nine months were spent working with partners. It's reasonable, to an extent, but I can't help but think that the end result does not justify that time spent.
I've sat in enough "re-imagining sessions" of processes that people do every day to know that they are not always helpful (let's redesign the shopping cart, a pair scissors, a wallet, an eye-dropper, etc.). I've watched days and weeks of bullshit time spent by design teams and firms, as they "just make sure they're not overlooking anything" while they play ridiculous "ideation games" and piss away their client's time. And that's just the kick-off part of the project. Never mind the back-to-the-drawing-board moments that happen as the concepts go into production.
In other words, I'm aware of the creative process, especially in terms of large-scale projects for large clients like this. I've done my time on several similarly huge concepts, and I know how long it can take. But I'm also aware of how design firms—especially very large ones—can over-hype their mediocre work and hide behind the success of their ability to get a big-name client, all in the name of keeping their bloated design studios and processes going.
I'm just not cool with the fact that I think that everyday people with no design experience could see some of these hype jobs and call bullshit. This would lead them to eventually wonder how important design is in the first place. I'm seeing it in my job today, and I know you all have dealt with it as well. It's our job to be honest with ourselves and our clients about what we're doing, and just how much of a real-world change we are contributing, and how much our clients can expect.
If it takes a long time, the result should show it. If you bill it as revolutionary, it better damn well be so. This work by IDEO is not. This is hype.
We're designers. Not con men. At least...most of the time.