5 stages of creating your mockup (a survival guide for non-designers)
If you are not a designer the idea of sketching something out may flabbergast you the moment you are assigned to such activity.
And even though I have experience in drawing and cannot deny that I draw things sometimes, I am obviously not a designer. I am not a professional and I do not know how to put things together so they look neat and nice.
But sometimes there’s nobody else who could do this job for you, especially if it is a side project with no budget or anything you could use to your advantage. So I decided to be courageous. I decided to make a mockup myself, forgetting about my dignity and knowing that people would say at least “meh” about my creation.
If you struggle with such things as well, get ready, I’ll guide you through 5 (painful) steps where you can finally become more confident in your design skills even if you never tried designing before in your life.
- Denial (You seek for the best platform that would do stuff for you). You know that Photoshop can do things. As much as InDesign. Since you have never used anything of it, you would spend a great deal of time googling “software for design for beginners”. But there is no such software, I have to disappoint you. Should you google? Sure, but you should google “design templates for _______” where you fill the blank for what you want to design exactly. I doubt that you have come up or have to do something people have never done before, so there is great chance you will find the examples of what it should look like. In my case, I had to design a health app, so I just googled all the templates possible for health apps (and there are plenty of them).
- Anger (You start trying out things and they look awful) Once you have done with your research and have the best example of what you would like to do next to you, it seems really easy to repeat them. You just add things here, google for templates there and eventually type some text here. In the end, it looks awful. It looks like a design in 2000, made by a very young designer in the company where this role is not admitted at all. You cannot repeat what is done by professionals. That’s fine. You do not need to. Analyze what you have found and find the pattern. How the icons organized? What color scheme is used? Where the menu buttons? These little details are usually very important and they make the impression of a working app.
- Bargaining (You rip some elements from pros and just match them together so they look okay). If you cannot repeat the picture of a sidebar, you just cut it and paste in your design. And then another one. And another one. Eventually have a nice, very professional Frankenstein which does not look like something you should show to others. Unless you want them to say “Yeiks…”. Do not create a Frankenstein! Choose the pattern you find the most suitable and follow the lead. If you do not know how to repeat the element, omit it. Try finding icons and downloadable color pallets to keep your design on the same page and in the same style. Don’t mix things up.
- Grieving (You give up the idea to create a Frankenstein and make your own design). It is unprofessional and everyone can spot it. You know. It does not look tangible or amazing enough to start using your app, but it looks like an app eventually! Was not that the main goal?
- Acceptance (You know that you are not a designer, but you are proud of your result). You may not be able to start your freelance designer career or put this design in your portfolio as a DESIGNER, but you can do this as an entrepreneur, which is not even less valuable.
Once you have gone through all the stages, you think that design is maybe not for you. But you know for sure that you can handle the challenge and get the result you are proud of it. Is there anything better to consider as an achievement?
Here is my mockup I created going through all the stages I just described. :)
