Pencils Down: Stop Designing & Start Developing

Designers can’t help themselves. We are, by nature, perfectionists. We create, then throw away. We create again, tweak continuously, and fine-tune a design indefinitely. Why can we not stop ourselves? Time passes us by, missing deadlines. In turn, developers anxiously wait for us to finish, so that they can work off of something that has been solidified. During this session, you will learn strategies that will push your design to that "good enough" stage, so you will know “when to say when” and move from designing interfaces to developing them.

(Posted from speech of same name given at the Big Design Conference, June 1, 2012)

Transcript

1. http://bit.ly/J7WozH
   stop designing & start developing
   pencils
   down
   

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2. sat
   test
   sucked
   http://goo.gl/NBjmn
   

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3. no one
   defines
   done
   for
   me
   http://goo.gl/WtF6C
   

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4. TODAY
   IS NO
   DIFFERENT
   http://goo.gl/zhUXC
   

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5. on the
   OTHER
   hand
   http://goo.gl/AexR5
   

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6. conflicted
   needed
   help
   http://goo.gl/hqeD9
   

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7. oppor
   tunity
   http://goo.gl/MUnRm
   

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9. share
   my FINDINGS
   http://goo.gl/Bp9rf
   

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10. why hard
    why good
    grounding
    BEGINNING
    momentum
    reviews
    finish
    debrief
    

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11. why is
    done
    so hard?
    http://goo.gl/wTz5B
    

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12. DOES
    DONE
    EXIST?
    http://goo.gl/acDde
    

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13. “it's not
    done
    until it's
    done.
    http://goo.gl/0tmXn
    

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14. perfectionism
    http://goo.gl/ybdv1
    

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15. http://goo.gl/wKh6S
    

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17. http://goo.gl/lndJn
    GREAT
    EXPECT
    ATIONS
    

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18. diverging
    mediums,
    devices,
    displays
    http://goo.gl/ABAAO
    

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19. http://bit.ly/fr8hbU
    

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20. WHY IT'S
    GOOD
    TO BE DONE
    http://goo.gl/wTz5B
    

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21. new phases,
    projects,
    products,
    clients,
    teammates
    http://goo.gl/Fz8K7
    

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22. freelancing, training, startups,
    new jobs, new careers
    http://goo.gl/NBZvY
    

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23. reading+
    writing+
    drawing+
    speaking+
    http://goo.gl/k3ILg
    

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24. exercise
    hobbies
    travel
    family
    http://goo.gl/L5xHS
    

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25. sleep
    http://goo.gl/09vG7
    

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26. 24 hours
    
    sleep
    work
    other
    
    

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27. Getting
    Grounded
    Getting
    Started
    Creating
    Momentum
    http://goo.gl/wTz5B
    

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28. get
    over
    your
    self
    

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29. style
    guides.
    patterns.
    leverage.
    http://goo.gl/9wjVb
    

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30. front
    load
    http://goo.gl/nYwWr
    

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31. cost of thrashing over time
    
    early
    late
    
    $$$
    
    

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32. trans
    parency
    http://goo.gl/6XbXl
    

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33. http://goo.gl/ueCuW
    minimize cave work
    
    

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34. team
    me
    
    vs.
    
    

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35. low
    hanging
    fruit
    http://goo.gl/Buzaw
    

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36. SPEED
    sketching
    keynote kung fu
    screenshots
    balsamiq
    paper53
    http://goo.gl/za6Hu
    

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37. http://goo.gl/Buzaw
    focus
    time
    

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39. REVIEWS+
    http://goo.gl/wTz5B
    REVISIONS
    
    
    

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40. http://goo.gl/W2ibS
    narratives
    VS. DELIVERABLES
    

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41. http://goo.gl/ysXpJ
    CRITIQUES
    vs. feedback
    
    
    

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42. http://goo.gl/W2ibS
    reflection
    before
    reaction
    

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43. refine
    review
    revise
    repeat
    RELEASE  
    

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44. go
    time?
    http://goo.gl/wTz5B
    

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45. time
    
    satisfaction
    
    client
    
    designer
    
    wasted
    cycles
    
    pencils
    down
    point
    
    The Law of Diminishing Tweaks
    
    

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46. POST
    RELEASE
    THERAPY
    http://goo.gl/hqeD9
    

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47. everything
    is a hack
    the first
    release of
    anything
    ever made
    stunk.
    
    http://goo.gl/CJq0l
    

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48. my work quality over time
    
    6
    
    5
    
    4
    
    3
    
    2
    
    1
    
    (progress not perfection)
    
    

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49. Facing a sea of infinity, it's easy
    to despair, sure that you will
    never reach dry land, never have
    the sense of accomplishment of
    saying, "I'm done." At the same
    time, to be finished, done,
    complete--this is a bit like being
    dead. The silence and the
    feeling that maybe that's all.
    
    …the challenge is to level set, to
    be comfortable with the
    undone, with the cycle of never-
    ending…Today, we're never
    finished, and that's okay.
    
    - Seth Godin
    http://goo.gl/VtNAX
    

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50. ERICA BURNETT
    STEPHEN ANDERSON
    TSCOTT STROMBERG
    JEREMY JOHNSON
    GARRETT DIMON
    MARK KRAEMER
    Marcelo Somers
    Austin Walker
    nathan smith
    adam polansky
    brian sullivan
    tracey nolte
    dustin askins
    travis isaacs
    +
    
    1
    
    
    

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51. http://bit.ly/J7WozH
    @hursman
    

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