Tamika: I was hoping there would be some relevance to a larger audience than designers, so thanks for commenting.

Fritz: The meme idea is great. It would be interesting to see what other people can contribute in this vein, whether it’s 5/5, 10/10, and so on. There’s no doubt a wealth of great insight out there. BTW: Hope you’re practicing your Visual SenseMaking skills!

Mundir: Professionalism does go both ways. How designers are perceived and treated by clients is a huge issue, especially as traditional design services have become more commoditized and democratized to some extent. Communicating the value of what you do and establishing mutual respect with a client is crucial from the very start.

Chris: You’re right. There’s much more behind these lessons than what’s written, but a common theme is that many are learned the hard way. Miscommunication and misunderstanding problems are particularly painful, and it’s hard sometimes to set one’s ego or one’s own will aside so that a balanced, civil, and productive dialogue can be restored.

As for working pro-bono, I’ve seen both the good and the bad sides of this in practice. Sometimes well-intentioned designers get pulled into pro bono work they later regret, or they don’t get the results they expected. It always comes back to issues of clarity, fairness, and purpose. Your blog post on this topic is excellent; thanks for including it in your comment.

Jamie: Thanks for elaborating on this on your blog! I’d be curious to hear what your old professors have to say. There’s only so much, I think, that design schools and design programs can hope to achieve; however, that’s no excuse for the recurring gap that exists in design education. If there was some way to incorporate more real-world lessons, that would benefit students, potential employers, clients, and the schools themselves — by producing higher-caliber graduates who are better prepared to handle the challenges of the design profession.

I LOVE this post! It is so true. I wish my they would have told us some of these things in design school. I just emailed a link to my old professors, and wrote a post about your insight. Thanks!

Jamie

http://jamiejovittetoe.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/they-should-teach-this-in-college/

So far, your post is the first decade-retrospective piece that has truly resonated with me. Each one of your ‘learnings’ is a significant principle that could merit its own post, if not something larger. The third item, “Clients aren’t the problem. Misunderstandings are.” was one that is indicative of the kind of humility you need to be really effective as a designer. I’ve learned this principle the hard way; I imagine there is no easy way to learn it. Realizing that your clients are people too- often good, well-intentioned people who are not out to steal from or abuse you- often comes through the kind of painful experience that exposes your own arrogance and abuse of others, rather than one where you were the ‘victim.’ It may seem hyperbolic to put design in these terms, but most designers I know give it everything they’ve got, which is precisely why misunderstandings end up being so painful.

I could go on and on about your other points (particularly #5, “don’t be cheap unless it’s for a good cause” – see my post on using pro-bono work as a client building strategy: http://www.newfangled.com/transitioning_pro_bono_service_to_paid_accounts), but I won’t clog up your comment stream.

Thanks for putting this out there.

Chris

I have had a load of problems being unprofessional. One of them being the customer does not regard you the way you should be.

Nice site, bookmarked you. Will be back for more!