You're a Designer Whether You Like it or Not

What the hell is "design?" Is it gradients and drop shadows on buttons? Is it the font you use in your app? Is it how you organize your living room?

There's design in all these things but this is not design, per se.

Developers sometimes define "design" as "how it looks." But the features you choose to build and even the specific way in which you actually build it is all a part of design. You're a designer too.

Great developers are able to understand the "why" behind designers' decisions. Conversely, great designers are builders themselves who realize what's feasible and impossible with the materials and technology. There's smooth interplay between the two disciplines on the best teams. They share an equal responsibility for the final user experience.

In my talk I'll discuss some ways to tear down the physical and metaphorical wall that sometimes exists between designers and developers. When you empathize with designers on your team, you'll quickly be amazed how you both start building better products together.

Transcript

1. DESIGNER Whether you like it or not. You’re a
6. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. WHO HERE WORKS WITH DESIGNERS?
7. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. WHO CONSIDERS THEMSELVES A DESIGNER?
8. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. YOU ARE A DESIGNER.
10. Buy NOW!
11. Buy NOW!
12. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. WE MAKE STUFF PEOPLE USE.
13. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. SO WHAT? WHY SHOULD I CARE?
14. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. JOB OF TOMORROW: “DEVELOPIGNER?”
15. Design is the application of intent—the opposite of happenstance, and an antidote to accident. Robert L. Peters Designer
16. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER
17. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER 1. You’ve got the wrong idea about design.
18. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER 1. You’ve got the wrong idea about design. 2. Everyone has latent design skills.
19. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER 1. You’ve got the wrong idea about design. 2. Everyone has latent design skills. 3. Communicating with designers.
20. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER 1. You’ve got the wrong idea about design. 2. Everyone has latent design skills. 3. Communicating with designers. 4. Your design nitro boosters.
21. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5 THINGS TO COVER 1. You’ve got the wrong idea about design. 2. Everyone has latent design skills. 3. Communicating with designers. 4. Your design nitro boosters. 5. Design patterns for designers.
22. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 1. YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT DESIGN
23. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 1. YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT DESIGN
26. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 2. EVERYONE HAS LATENT DESIGN SKILLS
29. Typical developer thinks:
30. Typical developer thinks: CRUDManager.CreateAdditionalAccount()
31. Create Additional Account Typical developer thinks: CRUDManager.CreateAdditionalAccount()
36. “Developigner” thinks:
37. “Developigner” thinks: If my interface was a person, it would say...
38. Start a savings account “Developigner” thinks: If my interface was a person, it would say...
39. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 2. EVERYONE HAS LATENT DESIGN SKILLS
40. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 3. COMMUNICATING WITH DESIGNERS
42. I don’t like how this looks. Said to a Designer By a Developer
43. I don’t like how this looks. Said to a Designer By a Developer I can’t get this thingy to work. Said to a Developer By a Designer =
44. Yeah we’re gonna need this [crazy thing] like yesterday...just do it this way instead, OK? Management “Swoop and Poop Strategy”
45. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. PROPOSING IDEAS & CRITIQUING DESIGNS
46. “Well, I really like it when…”
47. “Well, I really like it when…”
48. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. PUSHING BACK ON UNREALISTIC DESIGNS
52. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 3. COMMUNICATING WITH DESIGNERS
53. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 4. YOUR DESIGN NITRO BOOSTERS
54. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. PERFORMANCE
55. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. PERFORMANCE
56. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. SPEED MATTERS Amazon 100 ms delay caused a 1% drop in revenue. Yahoo! 400 ms delay caused a 5-9% decrease in traffic. Bing 2 seconds delay caused a 4.3% drop in revenue per user. Mozilla Download page 2.2 seconds faster increase of 15.4% in downloads. Google Maps Reduced the file volume by 30% and observed a 30% increase in map requests.
57. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. “AUTOMAGIC”
59. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 5. DESIGN PATTERNS FOR INTERACTION
62. Your Design
63. The World Your Design
64. The World Your Design “Forces”
65. The World Your Design “Forces” High radiation requires HASMAT suit and gloves Most sniffers have 3-terminal connector ** Governments spend $2B annually on radiation safety equipment **
72. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 10 USABILITY HEURISTICS Visibility of system status Match between system and the real world User control and freedom Consistency and standards Error prevention Recognition rather than recall Flexibility and efficiency of use Aesthetic and minimalist design Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help and documentation
73. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. 10 USABILITY HEURISTICS Visibility of system status Match between system and the real world User control and freedom Consistency and standards Error prevention Recognition rather than recall Flexibility and efficiency of use Aesthetic and minimalist design Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help and documentation
74. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS
75. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS Progress indicators
76. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS Progress indicators Live preview
77. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS Progress indicators Live preview Autocomplete / live search
78. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS Progress indicators Live preview Autocomplete / live search Periodic refresh
83. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. BONUS: TACTIAL NUGGETS
84. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. WORK AS CLOSE AS PHYSICALL Y POSSIBLE
85. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. TEACH THEM
86. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. BE TAUGHT (YOU’RE HERE!)
87. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. CREDIT & SOURCES “Designing with Forces” Ryan Singer http://vimeo.com/10875362 Notes on the Synthesis of Form Christopher Alexander “Clean Up Your Mess” Daniel Higginbotham http://visualmess.com
88. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. CREDIT & SOURCES Designing Web Interfaces Bill Scott & Theresa Neil “Yahoo Design Pattern Library” Yahoo http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/ “Design for Developers” Robby Ingebretsen http://bit.ly/hkHghf
89. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. CREDIT & SOURCES “Anatomy of a Design Decision” Jared Spool http://vimeo.com/20881152 “Ten Usability Heuristics” Jakob Nielsen http://bit.ly/4eOWbN “First Principles of Interaction Design” Bruce Tognazzini http://bit.ly/4Cyrwu
90. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. CREDIT & SOURCES High Performance Websites Steve Souders
91. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. I — READING
92. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. I — READING
93. DESIGNER You’re a Whether you like it or not. THANKS! @noluckmurphy