Demystifying Design: Fewer secrets, bigger impacts

This is the talk I gave in Dublin, Ireland at Interaction 12 describing how designers need to demystify their processes to improve team cohesion, collaboration and productivity.

Transcript

1. http://www.dvdbeaver.com/ Demystifying Design fewer secrets, bigger impacts Interaction 12 dublin, ireland
2. Who am I? interaction designer. team leader. author. jeff gothelf currently: principal at proof author @ o’reilly (lean ux, 2012) previously: publicis modem, webtrends, aol, fidelity, tons o’startups blog: www.jeffgothelf.com twitter: @jboogie email: jeff@proof-nyc.com #demystify
3. A brief story…
4. A strange land
5. A strange land
6. A strange land
7. Ultimately, it turned out to be a familiar place
8. #demystify | @jboogie Software development often feels like a circus looks like someone here got the wrong invitation http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTiz7SEEdVU/TujhE7vzIUI/AAAAAAAADXw/z-NMHaEumhM/s400/skinny+man+in+body+building+contest+dr+heckle+funny+photo+blog.jpg
9. #demystify | @jboogie What ux design looks like to a non-designer magic!
10. #demystify | @jboogie Mystery = power + control in theory…
11. #demystify | @jboogie Mystery makes designers heroes! #winning http://cdn0.lostateminor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/mike-joos-art-4.jpg
12. #demystify | @jboogie Mystery insulates designers keeps us warm in winter, cool in summer (well, all the time right?) http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/glasto062711/g38_17317374.jpg Mystery
13. #demystify | @jboogie Ultimately, though, mystery is detrimental initially to the team, then the product and ultimately the company http://www.good.is/post/this-is-why-youre-fat/
14. #demystify | @jboogie The team separates into artificial silos which quickly degenerates into us vs. them http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Allegany_Township_silos.jpg/1024px-Allegany_Township_silos.jpg
15. #demystify | @jboogie There is no common language leaving both sides feeling misunderstood http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/818f95254821e64f4fd97a1210fa3789_1M.png
16. #demystify | @jboogie Shuttle diplomacy pushes the project along puts the project manager in the middle http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/818f95254821e64f4fd97a1210fa3789_1M.png
17. #demystify | @jboogie Without transparency there is no trust trust is core to the team’s success http://marpr23.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/2910831531_67dcd2bac5.jpg
18. #demystify | @jboogie This is nothing new the efficacy of collaboration is directly related to team cohesion The Role of Team and Task Characteristics in R & D Team Collaborative Problem Solving and Productivity Robert C. Dailey Management Science Vol. 24, No. 15 (Nov., 1978), pp. 1579-1588 http://www.jstor.org/pss/2630673 “the collaborative problem solving-productivity relationship was …shown [to be] sensitive to high and low levels for each of four predictors …task certainty, task interdependence, team size, and team cohesiveness.”
19. #demystify | @jboogie Designers must demystify the way we work the onus is on us http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dqo1MGA_oGE/Thz2w_UNvYI/AAAAAAAABF0/G0RjbeDKFP0/s1600/Dirty-Laundry.gif
20. #demystify | @jboogie We must welcome our colleagues into our world we’ve got nothing to hide http://www.flickr.com/photos/94844594@N00/
21. #demystify | @jboogie Demystification is powerful it reveals the entire design process http://croatia.org/crown/content_images/2009/Croatian_Sausage_640.jpg
22. #demystify | @jboogie Design is hard your colleagues should know that http://www.freakingnews.com/Balancing-Act-Pictures-92664.asp
23. #demystify | @jboogie Break through the silos walk a mile in each other’s shoes
24. #demystify | @jboogie The team’s fingerprints will show up in the work they begin to own the work along with the designer http://www.clockhours.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fingerprint-1.jpg
25. #demystify | @jboogie This won’t come easy – at first inevitably, we’ll get in our own way “The process laid out here — a delusion of happy collaboration between bean counters, stressed out clients and business minded account managers and, presumably, somewhere in the mix, designers — would be an unproductive clusterfuck for any capable designer. Input is one thing — valuable, in its place. But clients want design to solve hard problems, and to solve them beautifully and brilliantly. Pandering to people on the team by earnestly seeking opinions and and then making sure those wayward, uninformed, and wrong opinions are manifest in the product dilutes quality.” -jmaharry, october 15th, 2011 posted as a response to “demystifying design”on a list apart
26. #demystify | @jboogie Does this mean everyone is a designer? does this mean i’m no longer the hero? http://chicagocares.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/mural-painting.jpg
27. #demystify | @jboogie Your gut is showing and you may not like it http://ext.pimg.tw/huachih/4bb707f38d7f6.jpg
28. how have others done it? #demystify | @jboogie
29. #demystify | @jboogie Architecture demystified origins for design ideas came from nature
30. #demystify | @jboogie Architecture demystified origins for design ideas came from nature
31. #demystify | @jboogie Architecture demystified origins for design ideas came from nature
32. #demystify | @jboogie Illustration demystified show how it’s done using the tools
33. #demystify | @jboogie Typography demystified clarify the jargon by visualizing it
34. #demystify | @jboogie Prototyping and iteration demystified the marshmallow challenge http://marshmallowchallenge.com
35. #demystify | @jboogie prototyping and iteration demystified putting the marshmallow on at the end always fails http://marshmallowchallenge.com
36. #demystify | @jboogie Collaboration demystified too diversity in skillsets is key to succeeding as a team http://marshmallowchallenge.com
37. #demystify | @jboogie Shared experiences build a common language helps teams solve problems in their real environments http://marshmallowchallenge.com
38. how can you do it? #demystify | @jboogie
39. #demystify | @jboogie 1. Draw together make ideation inclusive (and fun!)
40. #demystify | @jboogie 1. Draw together share “trade secrets” to encourage participation
41. #demystify | @jboogie 2. Show raw work (frequently) retrain your colleagues
42. #demystify | @jboogie 2. Show raw work (frequently) maintain the perception of malleability of the work http://wireframes.linowski.ca/2009/02/rough-interface-sketching/
43. #demystify | @jboogie 3. Teach the discipline opportunistically explain basic design tactics
44. #demystify | @jboogie 3. Teach the discipline start building that common language http://eloquentscience.com/
45. #demystify | @jboogie kerf
46. #demystify | @jboogie kerf the groove or slit created by cutting a workpiece
47. #demystify | @jboogie Sanguineous crust
48. #demystify | @jboogie Sanguineous crust a scab
49. #demystify | @jboogie capriccio
50. #demystify | @jboogie capriccio a quick, improvisational, spirited piece of music
51. #demystify | @jboogie Cognitive load
52. #demystify | @jboogie Cognitive load the load related to the executive control of working memory
53. #demystify | @jboogie Fitts’ law
54. #demystify | @jboogie Fitts’ law the time required to rapidly move to a target area is a function of the distance of the target and the size of the target
55. #demystify | @jboogie kerning
56. #demystify | @jboogie kerning the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font
57. #demystify | @jboogie 4. Be transparent tell everyone what you’re doing and why
58. #demystify | @jboogie 4. Be transparent use the tools you have to communicate out
59. #demystify | @jboogie 5. Take credit for your wins emphasize design’s business value
60. #demystify | @jboogie 5. Take credit for your wins use numbers! http://feltron.com/
61. #demystify | @jboogie No more strangers in strange lands leveling the playing field empowers designers
62. #demystify | @jboogie Designers are not just pixel pushers http://boagworld.com/design/10-things-a-web-designer-would-never-tell-you/
63. #demystify | @jboogie We are being invited to their parties why? what do we learn by doing this?
64. #demystify | @jboogie We are being invited to their parties why? what do we learn by doing this?
65. #demystify | @jboogie We’re not inviting them to ours we should be Where are the “developers should learn to design” tweets? Never sent
66. Thank you #demystify | @jboogie @jboogie jeff@proof-nyc.com amzn.to/leanuxbook www.jeffgothelf.com slideshare.net/jgothelf Jeff Gothelf I’m writing a book! Pre-order here