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Déformation professionnelle

January 31, 2023

I came across the phrase “Déformation professionnelle” while reading a book (unfortunately I don’t recall which one).

Wikipedia defines it as “is a tendency to look at things from the point of view of one’s own profession or special expertise, rather than from a broader or humane perspective.”

This is one of those ideas that is easy to nod at because we know people engage in it all the time.

But by “people”, we mean “other people”.

There’s also the general human bias to overestimate the value of our contribution and underestimate the value of other’s contributions. And of course the Law of the Instrument, sometimes summarized as “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”.

What does this have to do with IRL experience design?

Get a group of builders, artists, writers, performers, and entrepreneurs in a room to work on a project and you’ll feel each of them pulling the project toward their own biases and interests with a sincere belief that the world is organized to be served by their expertise and that they have the best tools to serve the world. Therefore efforts should be directed at their particular area of expertise.

The builders lobby for more tech and structures. The artists lobby for creativity and artistic design. The writers lobby for story. The performers lobby for more stage time. But who is lobbying for the needs of the person who will experience the creation?

I believe when building, arting, writing, and performing are employed to serve others, they are the means not the ends. When the goal is to serve, you serve best by focusing on the needs of the humans who will experience your creation. Specifically, the feelings they need. This is feelings-first design.

One interesting footnote: Wikipedia also led me to a delightful term called Occupational Psychosis, defined as when one’s occupation or career makes one so biased that one could be described as psychotic.

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