We’ve just come out of that very uncomfortable point in a design-led project where you’re stuck in the middle of everything; you’ve moved away from where you started you’re not yet clear on where you’re headed.
Cue the scream emoji.
This is normal. It happens in every project. Sometimes it lasts a day, often it’s a lot longer than that.
Up to that point we were learning a lot, and drawing connections between all the things we were hearing. Then we had to agree on what we’d heard and do something with it, and it’s like being given a room full of lego with no instruction booklet.
We knew at the time that we’d look back and say ‘what was all the angst about?’ but that didn’t make it any easier in the moment.
The danger in that moment is being so anxious that you jump to anything that will get you out of the quagmire. The hardest thing to do is to stay in the mess and work through it, trust the process and keep working in a way you know will get you where you need to go.
We’re pleased and proud to say we’ve made it through! And have come out the other end pretty much agreed on the components of a model. We’re now working through how we visualise it in a way that is compelling and makes sense to people.