Unleash Your Inner Unicorn

Unicorns are considered to be the rare person who can do both design and development. But, why are they considered rare? Because design and development are considered to be separate disciplines.

In this talk, I explore the spectrum of design and development, how designers can be empowered by learning about development, and how developers can be empowered by learning about design.

I gave this talk at the Big Design Conference in Addison, TX on September 6, 2014.

Transcript

1. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT & Embracing the UNLEASH UNICORN YOUR INNER SPECTRUM OF Matt Baxter • @mbxtr • September 6, 2014
2. I’m Matt Baxter @mbxtr
3. I work at
4. as a UX Designer
5. Using design
6. and development
7. Just to clarify…
8. This is not 
 about bronies.
9. But Seriously, What’s with The Unicorn?
10. A person who can do both design and development. Unicorn
13. Some unicorn facts…
14. must have their coffee. Unicorns
15. only eat apples. Unicorns
16. love playing ping pong. Unicorns
17. don’t get along 
 with printers. Unicorns
18. Something you think you know about unicorns…
19. Unicorns are rare and hard to find.
20. Unicorns are rare and hard to find. But, why?
21. We think about design and development as separate disciplines.
22. http://sixrevisions.com/infographics/web-designers-vs-web-developers-infographic/ Designer Developer vs
23. Left Right vs
24. Unicorns are not as rare as you think.
25. I believe everyone has some unicorn in them.
26. Specifically… Designers can develop. Developers can design.
27. !
28. MY BACKGROUND
29. Remember when this was cool?
38. GRiD Compass First clamshell laptop
39. Xerox PARC Mouse The first mouse
40. Desktop GUI History Xerox, Apple, and Microsoft
41. “Few people think about it or are aware of it. But there is nothing made by human beings that does not involve a design decision somewhere.” – Bill Moggridge
44. But, I still enjoyed development.
45. Design Development or
46. Design Development and
47. the Spectrum
48. Development Design How We Think
49. Development Design What We’ve Accepted
50. Development Design
51. ??? ???
52. What crosses the developer boundary? </>
53. Development is much more than code.
54. What crosses the designer boundary?
55. Design is much
 more than pixels.
56. Reality
57. Individuals are more complicated than that.
58. Software is more complicated than that.
59. Design and development is a spectrum.
60. The Right Perspective
61. This sounds familiar…
62. “Should” is the wrong focus.
63. The better question is…
64. How can knowing more about development empower designers?
65. How can knowing more about design
 empower developers?
66. “But, if I learn x I’ll get worse at y.”
67. If your goal is to make great software, learning more about the process will only help you.
68. Tools are the wrong focus.
69. “Skill in the digital age is confused with mastery of digital tools, masking the importance of understanding materials and mastering the elements of form.” – John Maeda former President of RISD and professor at MIT Media Lab
70. Being a unicorn is more than combining code and pixels. </>
71. The true ability of a unicorn: 
 being able to balance
 design and development.
72. Understanding Your Job
73. Titles can be confusing.
74. I don’t just mean how many there are… UI Developer • UX Architect • Information Architect Design Technologist • Visual Designer Back End Developer • Front End Developer Application Developer • Software Architect UX Designer • UI Designer • UI Engineer Web Developer • Interaction Designer • Web Designer
75. A developer is not just a coder. </>
76. “I just built what the designer handed to me.” #stuffcoderssay
77. A designer is not just a pixel pusher.
78. “I designed it; its not my job to make sure it works.” #stuffpixelpusherssay
79. It’s not enough to just focus on “your” part.
80. Focus on the
 deliverables product.
81. This is Bob.
82. Bob uses apps.
83. Why does Bob use certain apps?
84. I use this app because the code is well-written!
85. I use this app because these pixels are perfect!
86. SAID NO USER EVER
87. I use this app because I can more easily ______.
88. I use this app because it enables me to ______.
89. Users only see the final product.
90. Great software is more than pixels and code.
91. Everyone’s job is to balance design and technology.
92. What will the result be?
93. Compromise Everyone designs Everyone develops It won’t be…
94. Tension between design and development is good.
96. “Each group, then, is trying to do the right thing, but they're pulling in different directions. If any one of those groups 'wins,' we lose.” – Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc.
97. It will be…
98. Better communication and collaboration
99. More empathy
100. Fewer assumptions
101. Less busy-work
102. Push limits of technology Estimate development Prototype Designers will
103. Begin sooner Adapt designs Have less back-and-forth Developers will
104. How do you begin?
105. It starts with your process
106. Typical Process Design Development Time Effort
107. Better Process Design Development Time Effort
108. Talk to each other
109. Educate yourself
110. Wireframing Typography Usability Developers
111. HackDesign http://hackdesign.org/
112. http://practicaltypography.com/
113. Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
114. Interactive Prototypes Understand Platforms Learn HTML/CSS Designers
115. InVision http://invisionapp.com/
116. Platform Documentation http://developer.apple.com • http://developer.android.com • http://developer.mozilla.com
117. Treehouse http://teamtreehouse.com
118. This isn’t rocket science.
119. Guess how much everyone knew when they started?
121. Do you have to? Nope.
122. Will it make you better at what you do? Absolutely.
123. A little bit goes a long way.
124. It’s not just about learning to code. </>
125. It’s not just about learning to push pixels.
126. (But go for it if you find that you enjoy both)
127. It’s knowing how to balance design and development.
128. Unleash Your Inner Unicorn
129. Questions? @mbxtr