Bridging the Gap Between Product & Engineering

The slides for my presentation at Product Secrets in New York City. Tips for engineers, product managers and designers working on software products to improve communication and work more effectively with one another.

Transcript

1. Product Secrets #6 Bridging the Gap Between Product & Engineering Cameron Spickert Director of Mobile Engineering @ Oyster November 19, 2014
2. About Me • Director of Mobile Engineering at Oyster • Joined December 2012 • Mostly full-time iOS engineer • …but also Android, API, product, hiring, etc.
3. Oyster • The leading streaming service for books • Mission: connect readers with books they’ll love • $9.95/month = unlimited access to over 500,000 digital books • Launched on iOS in September 2013 • iOS, Android, web
4. What is the “gap”? • Many companies have separate design, engineering and management teams • More separation = more room for error, miscommunication, inefficiency • Bridge the gaps between teams/specializations to work more effectively
5. Goals • Solve all of your problems • Share my own observations/ideas (~5 years) • Help you avoid some common pitfalls • Encourage reflection about your own process
6. Top 5 Tips
7. Top 5 Secret Tips
8. Secret Tip #1 Speak the same language
9. Be fluent in the language of your platform
12. Human Interface Guidelines https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/ userexperience/conceptual/mobilehig/
13. Ease translation from design to code
16. @interface OYSTextStyle : NSObject // NSAttributedString attributes @property (nonatomic, copy, readonly) NSDictionary *attributes; // Variants @property (readonly) OYSTextStyle *singleLineStyle; @property (readonly) OYSTextStyle *uppercaseStyle; @property (readonly) OYSTextStyle *underlineStyle; @property (readonly) OYSTextStyle *multilineStyleWithTailTruncation; + (instancetype)styleWithAttributes:(NSDictionary *)attributes; - (NSDictionary *)attributesWithColor:(UIColor *)color alignment:(NSTextAlignment)alignment; - (NSAttributedString *)stringWithText:(NSString *)text; - (NSAttributedString *)stringWithText:(NSString *)text color:(UIColor *)color; - (NSAttributedString *)stringWithText:(NSString *)text color:(UIColor *)color alignment:(NSTextAlignment)alignment; @end
17. @interface OYSTextStyle (Styles) + (instancetype)sansExtraSmallStyle; + (instancetype)sansSmallStyle; + (instancetype)sansSmallBoldStyle; + (instancetype)sansRegularStyle; + (instancetype)sansRegularBoldStyle; + (instancetype)sansLargeStyle; + (instancetype)headerSmallStyle; + (instancetype)headerSmallItalicStyle; + (instancetype)headerRegularStyle; + (instancetype)headerWideStyle; + (instancetype)headerItalicStyle; + (instancetype)inputMonoStyle; + (instancetype)heroSmallStyle; + (instancetype)heroLargeStyle; + (instancetype)titleItalicSerifLargeStyle; + (instancetype)titleItalicSerifExtraLargeStyle; + (instancetype)bodySerifStyle; @end
18. MailChimp Pattern Library http://ux.mailchimp.com/patterns
19. Secret Tip #2 Write everything down
20. Writing is often better than verbal communication
22. Be thoughtful about how you communicate
23. Tools • Messaging – Slack, Gmail • Scheduling – Google Calendar • Meeting notes, specs, articles – Google Docs • Bug reports, tasks – Phabricator, Asana • Documentation – git, READMEs
24. Secret Tip #3 Understand what’s important
25. Engineers make product decisions
26. Time is limited Polish Features Time vs Bug fixes
27. Specs are incomplete • Press/highlight states • Empty states • Loading states • Offline states • Error messages • Transitions • Limits on user input • Single vs. multi-line text • Caching behavior • Device capabilities • Differences between OS versions • Hard-coded vs. dynamic data • Release notes
28. Avoid working on things that don’t matter
29. Secret Tip #4 Follow up, follow through
30. Follow up • Check in regularly – at least weekly • Always be ready to share mockups, prototypes • Adapt to feedback • Course corrections should be expected
31. Follow through • Your job isn’t done when you click “release” • Account for Q&A/release process • Listen for feedback from users, and adapt during the next cycle
32. Secret Tip #5 Evaluate and make changes
33. Recap 1. Create code-friendly designs, write design-friendly code 2. Be thoughtful about how you communicate 3. Keep everyone focused on what’s important 4. Check-in early and often 5. If something isn’t working, change it!
34. Want to build great products?
35. We’re Hiring cameron@oysterbooks.com
36. Thanks Cameron Spickert Director of Mobile Engineering @ Oyster @cameronspickert cameron@oysterbooks.com