Designing from joy

Start with what moves you, not what moves the market

Recently I was a special guest on the Better Bolder Braver Crowdcast with Simon Batchelar and Frances Khalastchi.

Frances and Simon met last year through our community and were also part of our recently graduated cohort of Vision 20/20. Two co-founders that came to build clarity, learn new skills and feel connected to a tight-knit tribe of like minds.

They set up Better Bolder Braver to empower coaches to market themselves better and now have their own thriving community supporting each others to achieve their goals.

In our wide-ranging conversation we explored what it means to design from joy.

I shared the 5Cs that I use as a filter for my ideas and any new projects I take on. Think of them as a set of prompts and healthy constraints:

• 🌈 Creativity
  Does this idea fulfil my need for creative expression, or spark a curiosity to learn

• 😌 Connection
  Who am I designing for? Do I really care about the problem I’m solving or the people I’m solving it for? How can I use surprise and delight to build more connection?

• 👨🏽‍🤝‍👨🏾 Collaboration
  Who am I doing this with? Does playing with them feel fun/exciting/interesting/effortless? If I’m flying solo how who will help me stay accountable?

• 🌏 Contribution
  Will this make a positive impact or is it just a bit of fun?

• 🪙 Compensation
  Am I/are we clear on whether this is something where money exchanges hands? And if not, what value are we creating? How do we get people to engage/commit without money (whether customers or collaborators)?

And a final C for good measure — commitment. Am I fully committed to this or is it just a shiny distraction?

How can you create things from a place of joy?