Page 138 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

126 Design Meets Business
ness designers highlighted the importance of displaying empathy with the client and sharing the work space - at least in certain moments - with clients.
3.4.3. Organizing time
Other discussions among designers took place around organizing time. As designers work in projects that often have tight deadlines, it is key for designers to organize their time wisely. As strategic director of Fjord Luca explained:
“For designers, it is important to smartly play with time [as they work un- der tight deadlines]. When are you spending your time right? When you spend 80% of your time on craft, and the rest on ‘politics’ or social stuff with the client, or vice versa?”
All of the designers were of the opinion that design processes cannot be standardized, as they unfold in unpredictable ways. This is illustrated in the following fragment of fieldnotes:
Three days after the start of the project, on the 21st of September, the design team was in the office around 10.00. Upon their arrival, the clients waited in the project room. Richard stood in front of a whiteboard on which he wrote ‘AGENDA’. While the designers put their stuff down, he asked for the planning of the day. Nadia, the designers’ project lead, told Richard that there was no “fixed agenda”. Richard looked worried. Nadia continued and said that there was a need to download the information of yesterday: “we need first like an hour. Is it ok we take one hour and then we do the eco- system with you?” Richard answered quickly: “sure but shall we first finish the agenda?” Nadia looked hesitantly at the other designers and ultimate- ly said “OK”. She then took over the marker from Richard and started to jot down the agenda. While she was writing, Richard gave her suggestions of what to include. For example, he proposed her to make the activities more concrete. After a few minutes, Nadia paused. She mentioned that felt the kick-off presentation the upcoming Friday “is our priority”. Richard appeared not to agree. He crossed his arms and with a serious tone in his voice, he said: “I am checking how good you are understanding this because you will speak with a board member, and I don’t want him to say, nice peo- ple those Fjord designers, but they do not get our question”. Paul, the team’s visual designer, interrupted the conversation. He looked up from his laptop and said “my internet is not working”, without further trying to engage in the conversation between Nadia and Richard. Richard suggested him to go to the administration desk. Then, he turned to Nadia again and said: “for