What is the Future of Design in China?

China will have a different path to design from other countries. I got this idea from an American designer who worked in China for several years. For me, design in China is disordered because there is no clear method to guide designers. But for her, design methods and frameworks which are developed and appreciated in the US constrain designers’ innovation. She said design in China is more localized and has limitless potentials. After talking with her, I begin to interpret design trends in China from a different perspective. I used to think that design methods I have learned in ID can deal with all the situations. But exploiting them in other countries without localization can’t guarantee success all the time. So how the design methods can be utilized flexibly in China is a big challenged.

Some emerging trends of design in China can throw light on the potential future. Patrick always talks about Shenzhen, a Chinese city, where 100,000 designers are dedicated to exploring the way to design. It surprised him. I think the design industry will be more centralized in the future. So design firms can find potential partners and collaborate with them more easily. They will form a strong design community and network to support each other instead of fierce competition. A lecture from Aaron was also inspiring. He said the UX design disciplines which are prevalent in the world will be finally reformed by local designers. He made a strong argument. Chinese people have their own cultural identity and behavioral patterns. Design companies from other countries who want to serve Chinese customers in their way will finally lose the game because local designers are creating something more attractive now. Deep research about Chinese people is needed. A new set of UX design disciplines will finally be built by local designers.