I transitioned into design (many years ago now) from theater and acting (and ill advised attempt at Stand-up comedy). During my time at drama school ("getting degrees by pretending to be trees"), we studied a lot of practitioners, but the standout for me was always Bertolt Brecht.
He wanted the actor to step outside of the role and openly and consciously narrate what the character has done, is doing and will do next. It helped you as an actor to get a more rounded understanding of motivations, needs, and desires.
How does this relate to design? Well, these techniques are exactly how designers, and especially those earlier in their careers, should look at their design process.
Brecht introduced something called the "alienation effect" (Verfremdungseffekt). Instead of trying to make audiences forget they were watching a play, he wanted to remind them constantly. Actors would step out of character, directly address the audience, and comment on the action.
As designers, we should look to find ways to remove ourselves from the finished product or even the course we are on, challenge where we have come from, and why we're on a particular path. Are there alternate routes we can take? Are the motivations of the current solution correct, are we balancing user needs and business goals, and do we have the ratio right?
Brecht also focused on "gestus" – social gestures that revealed character relationships and societal forces. His actors wouldn't just play emotions, they'd highlight the social context creating those emotions.
Getting Comfortable with Contradiction
Traditional theater hides contradictions to sell the illusion. Brecht highlighted them, actively breaking the fourth wall.
On a recent data analytics project, our initial brief was to improve tools for specialists. But our research revealed a fundamental contradiction — they didn't need better technical tools; they needed better ways to communicate their findings to decision-makers. Rather than glossing over this contradiction, we featured it prominently in our process narrative: "We came in thinking specialists needed more powerful analytics tools, discovered they actually needed better stakeholder communication capabilities, and that tension led us to a solution focused on translating complex data into executive-friendly insights."
This "thinking X, discovered Y, led us to solution Z" framework has become central to how we narrate our process.
Other examples:
"We came in thinking users wanted faster loading times, discovered they actually valued progress indicators that made wait times feel shorter, and that tension led us to focus on perceived performance over actual speed."
"We came in thinking the client needed a mobile app, discovered their users primarily accessed the service during focused work sessions at desks, and that tension led us to prioritize a powerful web experience over mobile-first design."
The Power of Breaking the Fourth Wall
We can step outside our designer role to highlight the forces shaping our decisions – technical constraints, business requirements, user needs, market trends.
Not only does this work for the design and creation process, it can also help us work better with clients or stakeholders. Being able to step outside of ourselves and narrate the what, how, and most importantly the why, we can elevate everyone's thinking ("everyone is a designer", remember?) and collaboratively create the best solutions.
It transforms our work from "look what I made" to "here's how I think about problems." Allowing us to better talk through and create better solutions and bringing our fellow designers in and elevating the work we're doing as a team.
Bringing Brechtian Technique to Your Process
Start by getting comfortable with contradiction. During ideation, don't hide your conflicting thoughts – voice them. "I personally like this minimal approach, but I'm questioning if it actually serves our core users. They're enterprise knowledge workers and are possibly more interested in getting more data on the page than a more attractive interface." This isn't just thinking aloud; it's creating a commentary on your own design process. As designers we often feel like we need to be right, but being able to narrate and question will inevitably lead to more nuanced, well thought through designs.
When presenting, don't start with solutions – start with tensions. "We had to balance security requirements with ease of use" frames your design as a thoughtful response to specific challenges, not just a creative exercise.
The next time you're deep in a design challenge or preparing to present work, channel your inner Brechtian actor.
Don't just show the what – narrate the why. Your thought process deserves just as much spotlight as the finished, polished work.
