Great design not only works well, but also communicates well.

Our team was going in circles. We were talking about ideas to improve the product, but it was just a bunch of words, spoken and written. I shaped those words into a mockup and showed it to the team.

The reaction was visceral.

People loved it, people hated it, people started nitpicking it. The visual design ignited better conversations than trying to imagine and react to someone else’s words.

And I’ve seen this pattern repeat throughout my career.

We can’t read each others minds, so we communicate via spreadsheets, word docs, and slides. If they aren’t presented well, the ideas won’t sell. No matter what you’re role is, you need to sell ideas. And the sale depends on how good your pitch is. Visual design leads that pitch. It gets your foot in the door.

I used to turn construction blueprints into 3D visualizations. Our clients couldn’t read dense technical drawings with mechanical, plumbing, electrical markups. A 3D rendering was instantly communicable.

Similarly, explaining a software product through requirements, roadmaps, and backlogs isn’t effective for non-technical people. But visual design? You get it. Right away. There’s (usually) no need to explain it because it speaks for itself.

Great design not only works well, but also communicates well. It sells.

Turning words, numbers, research, requirements, or whatever form of raw data into a coherent visual is a superpower. People are emotional. And visual design is how you start translating emotions into dollars for the business.

If you want to build great products, you need excellent visual design.

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Counterpoint: Monopolies can get away with basic visuals, because where else will the users go? Eg. Amazon, Craigslist, government websites or your local utility company.

P.S. Too much visual polish can seem sus (dribbblisation of design).

P.P.S. A picture doesn’t have to equate a 1000 words. A simple diagram with few words connected with arrows can have a multiplicative effect. I once diagrammed a customer journey using sticky notes and arrows in 10 minutes. That picture got us aligned with the multiple teams, and probably saved us tens of hours of meeting time. Visual design reduces meetings (maybe I should have led with this).