July 5, 2025

On purpose...

On purpose...

In the mid-nineties, I attended a workshop led by David Carson. Beyond what you’d expect — broken typography, bold layouts, visual chaos theory — what I remember most was an exercise as simple as it was unforgettable.

Carson called someone to the front, drew a dot on the left end of the whiteboard and said:

Then he drew another dot on the right:

He traced a line between the two. And asked:

It wasn’t a class on composition or visual hierarchy. It was an invitation to awareness. Where are you today? How much time is left? What are you doing with it?

This article comes from that question. And from an increasingly urgent need: to design with intention, with judgment, with purpose. Especially now, when artificial intelligence gives us speed, volume, and ease to make things without asking ourselves too much why.

Design as vehicle, not destination

Design without purpose is just form. Empty efficiency, aesthetics without ethics, innovation without impact. When purpose is clear, decisions gain focus, teams find direction, and users receive more than functionality: they receive meaning.

Purpose isn’t always grandiose. Sometimes it’s as simple as: “Prevent a user from getting frustrated,” “Respect the other person’s attention,” or “Reduce waste of resources in each iteration.” But when it’s defined and shared, it cuts through the entire process: from research to final product, from the first conversation to what the project leaves behind when you’re gone.

Designing with purpose across the entire lifecycle

Today more than ever, design isn’t just about the what, but how it’s used, how long it lasts, and what it leaves behind. Lifecycle-conscious design considers materials, use, maintenance, evolution, and even disposal. This applies to physical and digital products alike.

Initiatives like circular design or the cradle-to-cradle approach propose structures where what we design doesn’t end with the user, but is reinserted, adapted, or transformed. Even in digital, where environmental impact seems intangible, the use of energy, data, and deployment has a real cost.

Useful questions here would be:

Purpose versus technological fascination

The advance of AI has been dazzling. But not everything that can be done should be done. Today we see thousands of AI-based products that solve nothing, that automate the void, that exist only because they can. The result: saturated ecosystems, soulless products, and confused users.

Designing with purpose means filtering the fascination. AI is not the destination — it’s just another tool.

The questions we should be asking aren’t:

Working with AI without wasting resources: practical advice

Working with AI can be powerful. But it can also be inefficient, addictive, or downright frustrating if we don’t do it with judgment. For creative interaction with AI to have a positive impact and reduce waste (of time, energy, knowledge, and attention), here are some practical principles:

Clarify the purpose before writing the prompt

Don’t start with an instruction — start with an intention. Purpose gives direction and context.

Don’t delegate creative direction

AI can propose, but it shouldn’t decide. Judgment remains human. The output is raw material, not a final result. Get inspired, yes. But don’t abandon your role as a designer.

Iterate with intention

Don’t repeat without direction. Each new prompt should respond to a hypothesis or refine a search. Iterating without judgment only takes you further from the goal.

Document what works

Your process also designs. Create a library of prompts, results, and learnings that can serve other projects. And above all, write documentation that enriches your work. There are many strategic design tools that can help you structure that documentation: from the Business Model Canvas and empathy maps, to personas, matrices, or exploration canvases.

Take care of language — it’s your interface

Words are your most powerful tool when working with AI. A poorly chosen adjective can alter the entire result. Be precise, be intentional. The quality of language defines the quality of output.

Reducing “waste” isn’t just a matter of efficiency. It’s a form of respect: for your time, your energy, the knowledge you’ve cultivated, and the impact you want to generate. And for that to work, order isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity.

Purpose as compass: a final look at time and design

Let’s go back to Carson’s exercise. That third dot on the line wasn’t decorative: it was a way to locate yourself, to recognize yourself in time. Because designing — in its deepest sense — is nothing more than deciding what to do with that dot, from that dot.

Are we going to fill it with noise, unnecessary features, content that’s forgotten tomorrow? Or are we going to try to make what we do matter to someone beyond ourselves?

Designing with purpose isn’t seeking validation or virality. It’s an act of positioning. It’s saying: this is what’s worth doing now, at this moment, from this place in time.

Before starting the next project, the next prompt, or the next brilliant idea, maybe it’s worth doing it again. Draw the line. Place the dot. And ask yourself, without rushing: Where are you now?

Final note

This article was co-written through an iterative conversation with ChatGPT, where we tested approaches, explored narrative structures, and refined the tone so that each part of the text responded to a real purpose.

If you’re interested in going deeper into some of the concepts mentioned, here are some recommended resources: