Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini in 1959, famously said, “a camel is a horse designed by committee.”
The Mini became one of the most successful cars of all time. Sir Alec was knighted is 1969 because of its success. The car was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century. The Mini became an icon largely because it didn’t fall prey to design by committee.
Alex Issigonis wanted to create a small, simple, and economical car. He set size and fuel efficiency as the unwavering design criteria. The Mini featured a revolutionary front wheel drive that allowed 80% of the floor space to be used for passengers and luggage. The car that rolled off production lines stayed true to that vision.
Contrast the Mini with the Pontiac Aztek, launched by General Motors in 2000, and commonly cited as one of the worst automobiles ever produced.
The Aztek was loved as a concept car — one of the first crossover SUVs with attributes of a truck and a passenger car. And yet, as one executive said, “by the time it was done, it came out as this horrible, least-common-denominator vehicle where everyone said, ‘How could you put that on the road?'”
A Time article reported in a post mortem, “In later interviews with GM designers, it emerged that the Aztek design had been fiddled with, fussed over, cost-shaved and otherwise compromised until the tough, cool-looking concept had been reduced to a bulky, plastic-clad mess. A classic case of losing the plot.”
In any design work, the path of least resistance is for an idea to devolve into a Pontiac Aztek. We have to fight for an idea to become a Mini.
I think much of the problem originates with how we think about collaboration. We confuse collaboration with consensus. Collaboration is essential, but that doesn’t mean the all roles should be equally weighted. When I worked at Method Products, we had a design philosophy that helped: “Everyone has a voice. Not everyone has a vote.”
Ryan Thomas Riddle and Marcin Treder of UXPin wrote an excellent 99U article on “how you can avoid design by committee while maintaining a collaborative design process”. They write:
“Committee design is not collaborative. It’s a dictatorship of many, and you’ll be reduced to implementer rather than facilitator.”
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years.
“Make the Logo Bigger“ August 2010
“The Power of Polarization“ July 2015
“8 Types of Bad Creative Critics“ November 2006
Dave S says
October 30, 2017 at 7:14 amGreat way to start the week Tom!
As Product Manager, your message resonates deeply with me. It is important to know what problem we are trying to solve and for whom. The minute we lose focus, the product drifts.
Alex says
October 30, 2017 at 9:43 amall of the kinks have been worked out…now we have,……… NOTHING!
Heidi Cohen says
October 30, 2017 at 12:02 pmTom–Love the Halloween spirit. When I was at The Economist, they called the results of a group collaboration “A Zebra”. Happy marketing, Heidi Cohen – Actionable Marketing Guide
Dan Greenberg says
October 31, 2017 at 5:28 amThe Aztek is distinctive! It’s iconic!
Of course, being distinguished as the icon of truly awful design is not a positive… but I guess you can’t have it all!
Grant Cummings says
October 31, 2017 at 9:57 amSo true, watered down to nothing
Mary Ann Maggiore says
November 1, 2017 at 6:36 am“Everyone has a voice. Not everyone has a vote.” Thank you, Tom this am excellent mantra. I will take it into my work life immediately. I wish I had this guiding phrase ten years ago when I was on a team that forbade it. And disaster followed.