Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Application Interface Design

Garrett Dimon
PRO
October 06, 2008

Application Interface Design

An exhaustive behind-the-scenes exploration of application interface design through the lens of building a SaaS bug and issue tracker. It focused on evaluating what to include and exclude and how minor decisions could have wide-ranging ripple effects in the design and user experience.

Garrett Dimon
PRO

October 06, 2008
Tweet

More Decks by Garrett Dimon

Other Decks in Design

Transcript

  1. Application Interface Design
    The Softer Side of Things

    View Slide

  2. Build one thing and launch it.
    Now.

    View Slide

  3. Find your core.
    And stick to it.

    View Slide

  4. View Slide

  5. Alex Hamilton
    If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for
    anything.


    View Slide

  6. View Slide

  7. View Slide

  8. Focused.
    Everything to Everyone.

    View Slide

  9. Find a
    counter-
    balance.
    You have to keep
    yourself in check.

    View Slide

  10. It should __________.

    View Slide

  11. View Slide

  12. Seth Godin
    To really stand for something, you must
    make difficult decisions, mostly about
    what you won’t do.


    View Slide

  13. Steve Jobs
    [Innovation] comes from saying no to
    1,000 thigns to make sure we don’t get
    on the wrong track or try to do too
    much. We’re always thinking about new
    markets we could enter, but it’s only by
    saying no that you can concentrate on the
    things that are really important.


    View Slide

  14. It will not __________.

    View Slide

  15. View Slide

  16. Slow & Steady.
    It’s not a race. Be deliberate
    about adding new features.

    View Slide

  17. Ripple Effect.
    Even small changes can, and
    will, have significant impacts.

    View Slide

  18. Don’t be distracted.
    By features or shiny objects.

    View Slide

  19. Unknown
    If everything is important, then nothing is.
    “ ”

    View Slide

  20. View Slide

  21. View Slide

  22. View Slide

  23. Status
    Resolution
    Assignee
    Opener
    Creation Date
    Due Date
    Category
    Type
    Release
    Priority
    Severity
    Impact
    LOE (Estimated)
    LOE (Actual)
    Browser/OS
    Relationships
    Keep it.
    Redundant with the resolving comment.
    Keep it.
    Captured implicitly.
    Captured implicitly.
    Always “yesterday”. Priority should dictate this.
    Keep it.
    Overkill. Handle with categories.
    Soon, but not yet.
    Keep it.
    Factor it into Priority.
    Factor it into Priority.
    Creates overhead and doesn’t belong.
    Creates overhead and doesn’t belong.
    Doesn’t apply to issues. Capture in comments.
    Capture in comments.

    View Slide

  24. View Slide

  25. Is it noticeable?
    Use emphasis sparingly.

    View Slide

  26. View Slide

  27. View Slide

  28. View Slide

  29. View Slide

  30. Will it blend (in)?
    It’s about what you don’t see.

    View Slide

  31. Resolved Closed
    Open
    Reopen
    Reopen
    Enter
    Resolution
    Approve
    Resolution
    Email
    API
    Web Entry

    View Slide

  32. Open
    Resolved
    Reopened
    Closed

    View Slide

  33. View Slide

  34. View Slide

  35. View Slide

  36. View Slide

  37. View Slide

  38. Just build it.
    It’s not written in stone.

    View Slide

  39. View Slide

  40. It doesn’t have to be pretty for
    you to figure out if it works well.

    View Slide

  41. It just needs to work.

    View Slide

  42. Don’t waffle.
    Stop at “good enough”
    and circle back later.

    View Slide

  43. First Draft
    Final Draft
    ?

    View Slide

  44. 1
    2
    3

    View Slide

  45. 3
    4
    5

    View Slide

  46. 5
    6
    7

    View Slide

  47. 7
    8
    9

    View Slide

  48. 9
    10
    11

    View Slide

  49. View Slide

  50. Eat your
    own dogfood.
    Get to a point where you can
    and will use it yourself.

    View Slide

  51. Launch.
    The sooner, the better.

    View Slide

  52. Development Time
    Publicly Available
    Publicly Available
    Development Time
    OPTION 1
    Later Launch
    OPTION 2
    Earlier Launch
    The Late Launch
    The Early Launch

    View Slide

  53. Development Time
    Publicly Available
    Publicly Available
    Development Time
    OPTION 1
    Later Launch
    OPTION 2
    Earlier Launch
    Feature A Feature C
    Feature B Feature D
    Feature E

    View Slide

  54. Development Time
    Publicly Available
    Publicly Available
    Development Time
    OPTION 1
    Later Launch
    OPTION 2
    Earlier Launch
    The Overlap Window
    Safe
    Risky

    View Slide

  55. Share.
    No interface should
    be an island.

    View Slide

  56. View Slide

  57. [email protected]
    A
    B
    C
    D
    E
    F
    A
    B
    C
    D
    E
    F
    C
    The browser isn’t the only
    interface to design for.

    View Slide

  58. View Slide

  59. A B C
    A
    B
    C
    Command
    Issue #
    Message

    View Slide

  60. View Slide

  61. Credits
    Chipmunk & Apple Core - http://flickr.com/photos/qmnonic/2649575878/
    Stone Writing - http://flickr.com/photos/madzik/33230383/
    Disco Dolphin - http://flickr.com/photos/bionicteaching/1485798979/
    Puppy Tug of War - http://flickr.com/photos/b1n4ry/6926617/
    Camo Cat - http://flickr.com/photos/bcorreira/1897923229/
    Emphasis Flower - http://flickr.com/photos/prakhar/2348656344/
    Jump - http://flickr.com/photos/benmcleod/186110878/
    Lego People - http://flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/
    Turtle - http://flickr.com/photos/randomurl/763741547/
    Water Ripples - http://flickr.com/photos/trvr3307/23203774/
    Sharing - http://flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/
    Not Sharing - http://flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142454711/in/photostream/
    Waffle - http://flickr.com/photos/dasqfamily/2255557633/
    Dog food - http://flickr.com/photos/direz/2845924068/
    Thank You - http://flickr.com/photos/gi/304120801/

    View Slide

  62. Thanks.

    View Slide