DESIGNERS: stop saying your greatest strength is "innovation"

I asked design students about their strengths recently. Almost everyone said innovation. Then I asked them to show me what they'd innovated.

One student showed a beautiful lamp and explained how they "innovated the shade design." Another presented a really intuitive mobile app, crediting their "innovative navigation structure." Both were solid, thoughtful work, but not innovation.

Innovation fundamentally changes how entire categories work. It creates paradigms that didn't exist before. Most designers aren't doing that, and that's fine.

The lamp designer had incredible material sense. The app designer understood user psychology better than most seniors. These skills are valuable without being called innovation.

"My aesthetic sense is impeccable" should be enough. "I simplify complex workflows" should be enough. "I understand manufacturing constraints" should be enough.

We've stretched innovation's definition until it means nothing. Real innovation is rare. Most iterate and execute at high levels. That's not lesser work, it's different work.

The best designers articulate exactly what they're good at without buzzwords. They know their actual strengths and defend them with specifics.

You don’t have to be an innovator to be excellent. Just be specific.

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