Product Design Principles and Heuristics

A few quick thoughts on product design

Transcript

1. P R O D U C T D E S I G N A F E W T H O U G H T S A B O U T
2. P R I N C I P L E S A N D H E U R I S T I C S P R O D U C T D E S I G N
3. P R I N C I P L E S Think like a user Product first
4. H E U R I S T I C S Get drunk Go left-handed Think like an investor Checklisting Punk band Dribbble-fight The White Flame
5. T H I N K L I K E A U S E R M E N TA L M O D E L L I N G
6. Y O U A R E N O T T H E U S E R Y O U A R E W E I R D
7. U S E R H E U R I S T I C S W H E R E ’ S Y O U R H E A D A T Get drunk Try using your app when you’re tired Close one eye Turn down the lights Time-test Try to do an urgent process while a baby screams at you Go left-handed Try a mouse, trackpad, tablet Use keyboard and tab Use voice-over Try colour blindness simulators No shortcuts Use a tiny monitor
8. T H I N K L I K E A N I N V E S T O R S H O W M E T H E M O N E Y The product has to be worth investing in. The client needs to know their investment is worthwhile. More importantly, the user is investing time and effort to learn how to use your product. Is it worth it?
9. P R O D U C T F I R S T S TA R T A T T H E E N D The details are not the details. They make the design. The whole is other than the sum of the parts. but also
10. G E S TA LT - ‘ U N I F I E D W H O L E ’ A N D I ’ L L F O R M T H E H E A D
11. AV O I D C H E C K L I S T I N G D I D Y O U G E T T H E M I L K Capture requirements upfront but ensure they sit together as a whole. Encourage product visualisation through wireframing and prototypes. Remember that clients may not be able to visualise how their feature request fits into the product.
12. S TA R T A P U N K B A N D G O D S A V E T H E Q U E E N Spend your effort making a product that works as a whole, not a highly polished fraction of a larger piece. $2000 will buy a single tuba or two guitars and a drum kit - which one would you prefer to see on a Saturday night?
13. D R I B B B L E - F I G H T I ’ L L C U T Y O U
14. T H E W H I T E F L A M E N O ! H O T ! O U C H ! Spend time visualising your design in your head. Try and describe it using only words. Describe it in a way that encapsulates its entirety but also its detail. Recognise the futility of this, then do it again.
15. I N S U M M A RY R E A C T I O N T I M E I S A FA C T O R I N T H I S , S O P L E A S E , PA Y A T T E N T I O N Practice being a user. Practice being a client. Design a product, not a feature list. Make arguments with design, not with scope. Avoid aesthetic-led design. Practice mental visualisation.