There’s no making without breaking

The author, Trip Carroll, a design leader at Cisco, shares his insights on the importance of making and iterating in the process of creating something useful for others. He uses the example of Fortnite, which was initially a different game and almost cancelled, but the developers pivoted and made changes to create the successful battle royale game it is today. Carroll emphasizes that making something and being open to judgment is essential to creating something useful, and that fear of judgment should not hold us back. Carroll shares his own experience of working on the Momentum design system at Cisco, where he and his team conducted research to understand the needs of the users and made changes to improve the system. They created guidelines, implemented a new process for adding components, and restructured the Figma libraries to make it easier for designers to use the system. Through this process, Carroll learned the importance of making and iterating, and that it's okay to make mistakes and break things in order to make them better. He also emphasizes the importance of having a clear process and guidelines, and of being open to feedback and iteration. Carroll's experience shows that making and iterating is a key part of creating something useful, and that it's essential to be open to judgment and feedback in order to improve. He encourages readers to take action and start making, rather than getting stuck in planning and talking. The author also shares his personal experience of working on the Momentum design system, where he and his team made significant changes to improve the system, and how it had a positive impact on the designers who used it. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of making and iterating, and that it's a key part of creating something useful and making things better. Carroll's article is a call to action, encouraging readers to take action and start making, rather than getting stuck in planning and talking. He emphasizes the importance of being open to judgment and feedback, and of being willing to make mistakes and break things in order to make them better.