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Demystifying Design: Fewer secrets, bigger impacts

Jeff Gothelf
February 05, 2012

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.

Jeff Gothelf

February 05, 2012
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  1. http://www.dvdbeaver.com/
    Demystifying Design
    fewer secrets, bigger impacts
    Interaction 12
    dublin, ireland

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  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:
    [email protected]

    #demystify

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  3. A brief story…

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  4. A strange land

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  5. A strange land

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  6. A strange land

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  7. Ultimately, it turned out to be a familiar place

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  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

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  9. #demystify | @jboogie
    What ux design looks like to a non-designer
    magic!

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  10. #demystify | @jboogie
    Mystery = power + control
    in theory…

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  11. #demystify | @jboogie
    Mystery makes designers heroes!
    #winning
    http://cdn0.lostateminor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/mike-joos-art-4.jpg

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  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

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  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/

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  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

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  15. #demystify | @jboogie
    There is no common language
    leaving both sides feeling misunderstood
    http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/818f95254821e64f4fd97a1210fa3789_1M.png

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  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

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  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

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  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.”

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  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

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  20. #demystify | @jboogie
    We must welcome our colleagues into our world
    we’ve got nothing to hide
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/94844594@N00/

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  21. #demystify | @jboogie
    Demystification is powerful
    it reveals the entire design process
    http://croatia.org/crown/content_images/2009/Croatian_Sausage_640.jpg

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  22. #demystify | @jboogie
    Design is hard
    your colleagues should know that
    http://www.freakingnews.com/Balancing-Act-Pictures-92664.asp

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  23. #demystify | @jboogie
    Break through the silos
    walk a mile in each other’s shoes

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  27. #demystify | @jboogie
    Your gut is showing
    and you may not like it
    http://ext.pimg.tw/huachih/4bb707f38d7f6.jpg

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  28. how have others done it?
    #demystify | @jboogie

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  29. #demystify | @jboogie
    Architecture demystified
    origins for design ideas came from nature

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  30. #demystify | @jboogie
    Architecture demystified
    origins for design ideas came from nature

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  31. #demystify | @jboogie
    Architecture demystified
    origins for design ideas came from nature

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  32. #demystify | @jboogie
    Illustration demystified
    show how it’s done using the tools

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  33. #demystify | @jboogie
    Typography demystified
    clarify the jargon by visualizing it

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  34. #demystify | @jboogie
    Prototyping and iteration demystified
    the marshmallow challenge
    http://marshmallowchallenge.com

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  35. #demystify | @jboogie
    prototyping and iteration demystified
    putting the marshmallow on at the end always fails
    http://marshmallowchallenge.com

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  36. #demystify | @jboogie
    Collaboration demystified too
    diversity in skillsets is key to succeeding as a team
    http://marshmallowchallenge.com

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  37. #demystify | @jboogie
    Shared experiences build a common language
    helps teams solve problems in their real environments
    http://marshmallowchallenge.com

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  38. how can you do it?
    #demystify | @jboogie

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  39. #demystify | @jboogie
    1. Draw together
    make ideation inclusive (and fun!)

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  40. #demystify | @jboogie
    1. Draw together
    share “trade secrets” to encourage participation

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  41. #demystify | @jboogie
    2. Show raw work (frequently)
    retrain your colleagues

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  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/

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  43. #demystify | @jboogie
    3. Teach the discipline
    opportunistically explain basic design tactics

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  44. #demystify | @jboogie
    3. Teach the discipline
    start building that common language
    http://eloquentscience.com/

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  45. #demystify | @jboogie
    kerf

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  46. #demystify | @jboogie
    kerf
    the groove or slit created by cutting a workpiece

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  47. #demystify | @jboogie
    Sanguineous crust

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  48. #demystify | @jboogie
    Sanguineous crust
    a scab

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  49. #demystify | @jboogie
    capriccio

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  50. #demystify | @jboogie
    capriccio
    a quick, improvisational, spirited piece of music

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  51. #demystify | @jboogie
    Cognitive load

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  52. #demystify | @jboogie
    Cognitive load
    the load related to the executive control of working memory

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  53. #demystify | @jboogie
    Fitts’ law

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  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

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  55. #demystify | @jboogie
    kerning

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  56. #demystify | @jboogie
    kerning
    the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a
    proportional font

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  57. #demystify | @jboogie
    4. Be transparent
    tell everyone what you’re doing and why

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  58. #demystify | @jboogie
    4. Be transparent
    use the tools you have to communicate out

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  59. #demystify | @jboogie
    5. Take credit for your wins
    emphasize design’s business value

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  60. #demystify | @jboogie
    5. Take credit for your wins
    use numbers!
    http://feltron.com/

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  61. #demystify | @jboogie
    No more strangers in strange lands
    leveling the playing field empowers designers

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  62. #demystify | @jboogie
    Designers are not just pixel pushers
    http://boagworld.com/design/10-things-a-web-designer-would-never-tell-you/

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  63. #demystify | @jboogie
    We are being invited to their parties
    why? what do we learn by doing this?

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  64. #demystify | @jboogie
    We are being invited to their parties
    why? what do we learn by doing this?

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  65. #demystify | @jboogie
    We’re not inviting them to ours
    we should be
    Where are the “developers should learn
    to design” tweets?

    Never sent

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  66. Thank you
    #demystify | @jboogie
    @jboogie
    [email protected]
    amzn.to/leanuxbook
    www.jeffgothelf.com
    slideshare.net/jgothelf
    Jeff Gothelf
    I’m writing a book! Pre-order here

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