Ira Glass on the Creative Process (www.getoutthebox.org)

A large aspect of design that separates great professional designers from amateurs is very hard to teach. It can be described as training your eye and developing your taste. This simply comes from repetition and practise. Ira Glass articulates this well describing the creative process — ▶ this video Another aspect of design is the mindset and mentality required when looking to solve a problem. Something I feel often gets overlooked in the software world, where culture is generally engineer focused. IDEO pitch this in as 'design thinking'. While I'm not so keen on the term they do a good job of communicating the importance of certain mental traits that designers possess that are key to the design process. Sketch. Considering a user flow/feature or user story? Sketch out 50 ideas, explore and exhaust all possible scenarios, no matter how achievable, obvious or silly. Get it down on paper. I often think that getting the idea down on paper allows my mind to forget on it and move on to another potential solution. Try to not let your technical expertise constrain this exploration, that'll come later as you whittle your ideas down. Personally, if I have the time I quite like to produce hi-fidelity sketches. It may seem frivolous when a quick sharpie sketch will do, but as I spend time sketching I find the thinking time valuable and often find myself with another piece of paper jotting down notes/ideas etc. Learn to draw — I believe designers should sketch and draw. There are so many lessons to be learnt that translate to what we do when designing interfaces. It provides a foundation in understand proportion, lighting, white space, suspense etc. It's also an exercise in discipline and training your brain to accurately produce the image in your minds eye.

I would agree that the fun/work line is different for everyone, but I would also submit that a really low bar can also lead to an interesting hobby life over the long term. I would consider that I give up on stuff pretty early when it becomes "not fun [1]." I'm in my 50's and I've been doing it for a long time. Since I'm always obsessed with something and each time I try something I get at least a little better, I have built up a pretty decent background in a lot of different areas and the amount I can accomplish before something becomes "not fun" gets to be more and more. I like to say I have a Metahobby: I collect hobbies. I know this isn't a viable solution for most, but at least it's an alternative to feeling crappy about not finishing stuff. Also this:▶ this video [1] For hobby projects. In my career, I know it's work, someone's paying me.