In the Flow

Nick de la Mare writes in his article "In the Flow"

“Going with your gut” sounds like an offhanded way to approach something, but the more practiced people are in their profession, the more often their instincts are right. This is what athletes and creatives call being “in the flow.” Flow is the result of natural ability combined with practice and skill acquisition. When people are at their best — when they are truly in the flow — they can get out of the trenches, see beyond the next bump in the road, and look holistically at a landscape.

For designers, getting in the flow is a good goal to have. If we focus on relationships rather than moments in time we can better achieve a holistic view of the world surrounding any object of focus. This in turn allows us to gain a deeper understanding of a design problem.

At the same time, it’s necessary for even the big thinkers to get down in the trenches sometimes, to ground-truth the environment and maintain realistic assumptions of the lay of the land. Empathy is critical to design.