(@emenel)

I often struggle when attempting to explain my job to my parents and extended family. At least a couple times a year the topic comes up. We’re having dinner with my parents, or we’re at an aunt’s birthday party, or a wedding, and somebody says “So, tell me what you do?” and I tentatively respond “um .. I’m a designer.”  This received one of two responses - a blank stare or a follow up question, “What do you design?” Replying, “interaction designer,” as I always do, doesn’t help. (One of the reasons I always include “interaction designer” in my response is in an attempt to get the term out there, and thus increase awareness… if only a little).

That’s a very difficult question to answer. It’s easy when talking to peers or other designers, as they have a context for understanding, even if they’re in a different field. However, when trying to explain our specific form of abstract craft to people outside the design world things get a little tricky. 

I’ve tried taking a simplified approach - “I design software and websites.” This sort of works, but can also give people the wrong impression. Does that matter? Maybe it’s okay for them to just sort of get it… In some cases it’s fine at this level (for instance, when talking to my Great Aunt who has only seen computers from a distance). In other cases a deeper explanation is required or requested.

I started breaking down some activities that are part of my day-to-day work to see if there was anything helpful for an explanation:

• Field research
• Academic research
• Sketching
• Prototyping
• Diagramming 
• … and more

The obvious problem here is that most of these terms are pretty meaningless to people outside of the industry. What people really want to know is the outcome of these activities. Most people understand careers in terms of what you produce or what service you offer people. Since our service is pretty abstract, I have begun framing it around what we produce and how we work with clients.

These are the points I’ve come up with to help me explain what I do:

• Understanding people and the way products and services impact their lives
• Making things that are easy and enjoyable to use
• Making things that are useful and fill a genuine need or desire
• Specifically designing how people interact with the product (interface)

I still have a hard time explaining my work to my parents and family, but I think I’m getting closer. The one that has the most resonance with my family seems to be “making things that are easy and enjoyable to use.” I still get a lot of “what do you do all day?” type questions, at which point I try to explain some of our design activities. 

Next time somebody asks you what you do try to think about the tangible outcomes of your work. Even if you don’t produce anything directly, there will be some outcome of your work that everybody can relate to.