The Truth About Creative Magic

QUESTION

Hey Joey! I'm a 40-year old software designer working for a fintech company and I've been thinking a lot about magic as it relates to software experiences.

My question is this: How do you continue to infuse magic in your process, work, and products over the long haul?

There are many times that the design or product process can feel like a churn. Have you found modalities or approaches that help offset this tendency toward systemization?

—Jonathan S.

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ANSWER

Jonathan, you just touched upon one of the most important—and misunderstood—aspects to the general perception of creativity: Magic.

Whenever I discuss creativity with the uninitiated, I’m inevitably asked if I’m going to “teach the magic.” The answer is a resounding no. Not because I can’t teach creativity, but because it isn’t magic.

While the results of creativity are often magical, the process to get there is not. The practice of creativity is as reliable (and unmagical) as accounting or basketball or law or any other endeavor.

It’s clear that you understand this, as you refer to infusing magic in the end result rather than performing a magical process of creating. You mention offsetting systemization, and here’s where my suggestion for you comes in:

Lean into systemization.

Do not try to avoid or offset it. Systemize the hell out of your approach. Figure out exactly what works for you and sharpen that process to a point.

That’s not to say that your process is highly original—it isn’t. Neither is mine. Every basketball player needs to get the ball in the hoop, they all just go about it a little differently.

The general approach to creating is the same for everyone:

1. Get Inspired: Whether you’re looking for something to create or you unintentionally stumble upon a thought, every creation is born when you ask yourself, “What if…?”

2. Research: After that, it’s time to gather information to help you answer the question. Equip yourself with an arsenal of building blocks so that you can create with depth.

3. Iterate: The meat of the process, here’s where you try and try and try again, each step improving upon the previous. You will often bounce back to #2 to gather more info.

4. Finalize: My favorite—choosing to end. You could improve your creation forever, but at some point you must admit diminishing returns and accept “good enough.”

Isolate how you perform each of these best. Strive not only to create better things, but to make the process itself better. If you do this, you will find that magic will meet you at the end of the path—every time.

—Joey

One of the greatest magicians of all time, Harry Houdini. It seemed like magic to audiences, but he escaped every lock in the same unmagical way.