I’m a busy designer. I’m fortunate to be booked out months in advance. My freelance career has proven more stable than other’s “jobs”. I don’t wear busy as a badge of honour. I don’t condone hustle culture or compare how hard or long I work to others. But I know that a constant pipeline of new clients and a packed schedule of design projects is the oil that keeps the business ticking and the paychecks flowing. I keep my schedule tight, I stay laser-focused, and I deliver a shit-ton of great client work week-after-week-after-week. The business of design is good for me, except for one thing I lament.

我是一個忙碌的設計師。 我很幸運能提前幾個月預訂。 我的自由職業者比其他人的“工作”更穩定。 我不忙于作為榮譽徽章。 我不會縱容喧囂的文化，也不會將自己與他人的辛勤工作相提并論。 但是我知道， 不斷吸引新客戶和設計項目的時間表是保持業務運轉和薪水增長的動力。 我的行程安排很緊，我始終專注于激光工作，并且一周又一周地交付大量出色的客戶服務。 設計工作對我有好處，除了我感嘆的一件事。

我希望我有更多的時間去探索和玩耍。 (I wish I had more time to explore and play.)

I crave the freedom and safety to try new things and fail, but sometimes learn a lot and add new tricks to my design toolbox along the way. I want more opportunities to experiment.

我渴望嘗試新事物和失敗的自由和安全性，但有時會學到很多東西，并在設計工具箱中添加新的技巧。 我想要更多的實驗機會。

In a recent episode of Abstract: The Art of Design, toy designer Cas Holman explains how the best education comes from open-ended play — times to explore when there’s no right or wrong. No instructions that lead to a pre-determined outcome or goal. Instead of trying to learn a specific skill in a standardised way, we should follow what makes us curious. In this way, children grow agency and confidence. Creative adults need a dose of this same growth through play.

在最近的《 摘要：設計的藝術》一集中，玩具設計師Cas Holman解釋了最佳的教育是如何從開放式游戲中獲得的-探究什么時候是非對錯的時間。 沒有可導致預定結果或目標的說明。 與其嘗試以標準化的方式學習特定技能，不如遵循使我們感到好奇的方法。 這樣，孩子們就可以增強代理能力和自信心。 有創造力的成年人需要通過游戲獲得同樣的成長。

The best education comes from open-ended play — times to explore when there’s no right or wrong.

最好的教育來自不限成員名額的比賽—在沒有對與錯的情況下進行探索的時間。

But the busyness of success gets in the way. Budgets, deadlines, and agile sprints rarely allow the opportunity for extraneous design exercises that help us stumble upon unexpectedly better solutions. It’s all too easy to get lazy and reuse proven design patterns or fallback to your comfort zone when deadlines are looming; to follow the data and shut out the chance for risk-free play and unique expression. You have to pick and choose your battles for when to push for innovation or stretch your boundaries of style, because rarely does a perfect project come along that has the time and budget to afford the luxury of open-ended experimentation. The rigour of the modern product design landscape is extinguishing chances for play.

但是成功的繁忙阻礙了人們的發展。 預算，截止日期和敏捷的沖刺很少有機會進行無關的設計練習，這些練習有助于我們偶然發現更好的解決方案。 當最后期限迫在眉睫時， 變得很容易變得懶惰并重復使用經過驗證的設計模式，或者退回到舒適區域。 跟蹤數據并排除無風險游戲和獨特表達的機會。 您必須為何時進行創新或擴展風格界限選擇和選擇自己的戰斗，因為很少有完美的項目能夠花時間和預算來承擔開放式試驗的費用。 現代產品設計環境的嚴格性正在消除游戲的機會。

這是一個悖論。 (This is a paradox.)

The greatest among us get there because they’re not afraid to innovate. They’re the avant-garde. They’re seen as industry leaders because they drag all the rest of us through their wake of new ideas, trendsetting styles, better functionality, or more efficient processes. It takes fearless, free experimentation to be that cutting edge.

我們當中最偉大的人之所以到達那里，是因為他們不懼怕創新。 他們是前衛的 。 他們之所以被視為行業領導者，是因為他們將新想法，引領潮流的風格，更好的功能或更高效的流程拖入了我們所有人的行列。 要做到這一點，就需要進行無所畏懼的免費實驗。

But the best of us are also busy. Success leads to high-demand. And the resulting full schedule eats into our opportunity for play. The busyness of good business could end up killing what makes us special in the first place.

但是我們最好的人也很忙。 成功導致高需求。 由此產生的全部日程占用了我們的比賽機會。 好的生意的忙碌最終可能扼殺了使我們與眾不同的原因。

Time taken away from “real” design work for more playful pursuits is met with guilt, and continuously put off until some mystical time when things aren’t quite so busy.

出于內play，從“真實”設計工作中抽出的時間會讓人感到內gui，并且會持續拖延直到一些事情變得不太忙的神秘時期。

So how do we balance freedom for play and time for experimentation with the desire to stay busy with client work and maximise profits?

那么，我們如何在玩耍的自由和實驗的時間與保持忙于客戶工作并最大化利潤的愿望之間取得平衡呢？

It’s a dilemma I admit I haven’t solved. It’s hard to justify uncompensated experimentation when there’s client work to be done. Time taken away from that “real” design work for more playful pursuits is met with guilt, and continuously put off until some mystical time when things aren’t quite so busy. That future never comes, so play never happens when curiosity strikes, and the “ah-ha” moment of growth is lost.

我承認我還沒有解決這個難題。 當要完成客戶工作時，很難證明無償實驗是合理的。 從“真實”設計工作中抽出時間進行更有趣的追求時，會感到內，并持續拖延時間，直到事情變得不太忙碌的某個神秘時期。 未來永遠不會來臨，因此好奇心襲來時，游戲就永遠不會發生，增長的“啊哈”時刻就消失了。

Side projects or in-house products can be an outlet for playful design experimentation. If there’s no client to answer to, it’s easier to accommodate risk-free exploration. But those projects still need time and attention, and if you’re not pulling that time from your clients you’re taking it from your family instead, which is something I refuse to sacrifice.

附帶項目或內部產品可以成為進行有趣的設計實驗的渠道。 如果沒有客戶要回答，則更容易進行無風險的探索。 但是這些項目仍然需要時間和精力，如果您不從客戶那里抽出時間，那是從家人那里獲取的，這是我拒絕犧牲的事情。

The ideal scenario for any designer would be working with employers or clients who understand the value of experimentation and have the budget to appease that need for open-ended exploration. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to play? Those clients do exist. As we grow our skills and reputation we reach for them and snag one every so often. But they’ll never all be that way, no matter how brilliant we get.

對于任何設計師而言，理想的方案都是與了解實驗價值并有預算來滿足開放式探索需求的雇主或客戶合作。 誰不想獲得報酬參加比賽？ 這些客戶確實存在。 隨著我們技能和聲譽的提高，我們會不斷爭取并經常抓住他們。 但是，無論我們多么出色，他們永遠都不會那樣。

We need to consciously create chances for playful experimentation to enter our schedules. If we don’t, we die.

我們需要有意識地創造機會進行有趣的實驗，以輸入時間表。 如果我們不這樣做，我們就會死。

設計師是未來主義者 (Designers are futurists)

We look ahead at what can be improved and then try to build that better future now. Designing the future requires constant learning, flexing to new skills and technologies, and finding new solutions for evolving problems. We can’t get there without growth, and we can’t grow without play.

我們展望可以改進的地方，然后嘗試建立更美好的未來。 設計未來需要不斷學習，適應新技能和新技術，并為不斷發展的問題找到新的解決方案。 沒有增長，我們就無法到達那里，沒有游戲，我們就無法增長。

I’d like to hear how you’ve made time for experimentation in your organization and design routine. How do you put a value on play so you can justify attention spent on it? Or do you value it at all?

我想聽聽您如何花時間在組織和設計程序中進行實驗。 您如何在游戲中發揮價值，以便證明花在游戲上的注意力是合理的？ 還是您完全看重它？

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