So, the story goes something like this:

• Old school OJ brand puts out a new, distinctive package re-design.
• Lovers of orange juice everywhere throw a collective fit. OJ buying becomes problematic.
• Said OJ company freaks, and pulls the new packaging publicly.
• The intertubes, rejoice — it’s a customer led coup! Bad design has been cleansed from the world, and OJ looks just like it was a few months ago.

Am I the only one who finds a big firm backtracking a new design, so quickly, totally frightening? Isn’t this entirely counter counter to our professions better arguments that all good, new design is disruptive and challenging — and therefore needs time to set in? Don’t we all say that design is a process, and that any new design needs an opportunity to be refined? Shouldn’t design be given a freakin’ chance?

My cat is displeased

Whenever I think about reactions to design, or the process of setting design out into the world, I think of Paul Ford‘s piece Launch. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever read on the Internet. It’s relevant here.

Brace yourself for the initial angry wave of criticism: how dare you, I hate it, it’s ugly, you’re stupid. The Internet runs on knee-jerk reactions. People will test your work against their pet theories: It is not free, and thus has no value; it lacks community features; I can’t believe you don’t use dotcaps, lampsheets, or pixel scrims; it is not written in Rusp or Erskell; my cat is displeased. The ultimate question lurks beneath these curses: why wasn’t I consulted?

—Paul Ford, Launch

“Why wasn’t I consulted” — that’s where Paul nails it. If the internet has given us one new thing, it’s the feeling that we all matter. I have a blog, I have a twitter account, I have a voice! Most of the time, this is a good thing. But still, I worry.

What happens when this collective voice fails? Do all these opinions matter? Is there something to fear when the collective voice of a bunch of selfish, over-proud “customers” — who have inexhaustible, conflicting demands — start dictating design choices?

Better, not bitter

Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for creating new relationships between company and consumer. This is why I love designing on the web — it’s the perfect medium for constructive communication and building great customer relationships. We’re just starting to realize the amazing potential the web has to transform how we all interact, especially within the traditionally closed relationship between companies and consumers. There’s a really powerful communication mechanism developing, and everyone can benefit from it.

If this is going to happen though, we need to be better. As customers, and especially as designers, we must keep the dialogue open, positive and constructive. We must speak with soft voices and an understanding that, if our needs aren’t met or our voices seemingly ignored, there’s most likely a reason for it. Large companies might seem stupid, but they’re filled with the same warm-blooded types as yourself.

Sure, Peter Arnell (CEO of the re-design firm) isn’t a great speaker, but do we need to tease him on Twitter? Or rip into the design roughly 200 times on an industry blog? I hope not.

“The only option is politeness–remember always that you are dealing with other primates.” –Paul Ford

I don’t want to sound schoolmarmish, but I think that, in this age of Twitter, us designers tend to be a little loose with our opinions. This sucks, that sucks, and so on. The problem is, if we’re so harsh, reactionary and crowd-minded in our criticism, we’re only going to make things harder on ourselves. How will it feel when karma’s kicking your ass, and you’re at the helm of a troubled project with the thankless job of reading response emails, set in all-caps, screaming bloody murder?

Granted, we need to have high-standards. We should all strive for, and champion, the best design and the best firms. We do have a right to expect more from our large design agencies. The Arnell Group, it seems, didn’t have a convincing plan/justification for their work. There were serious usability issues with the packaging, and they obviously didn’t plan on how to incorporate customer feedback, and refine the work.

But let’s not all immediately join in some cacophonous hate-fest for the failures of others. Instead, we should offer constructive criticism and narratives about better design process, and move on with our lives. After all, it’s just fucking orange juice.