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Designing with GitHub
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Steve Smith
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April 02, 2014
Design
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Designing with GitHub
Learn how our team at GitHub works, and how we think about design.
Steve Smith
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April 02, 2014
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Transcript
Designing with GitHub
Hi, I’m Steve @orderedlist
How our Designers Work
Who are we? 28 designers, many disciplines
HTML/CSS Front-end designers, developers
Native Applications Desktop, iOS, Android
Illustration Octocats, animations, branding
Print Material Marketing, business ops
Video Marketing, education, events
Research User studies, product research
Our Tool Belt What we use to do what we
do
Words Yes, words
In order to communicate visually to your users, you must
be able to communicate verbally to your team.
Photoshop Dem PSDs
Sketch The software, and the book
Illustrator Vector Victor
Web Browsers Inspectors man…
Text Editors Atom, Sublime, Emacs, etc.
Text Chat Campfire, Hubot
Video Chat Google Hangouts, BlueJeans
GitHub Use GitHub to design GitHub
How we Collaborate Design better together
Serendipitous Interactions Great ideas from unexpected places
Annual Summit Everyone in one place
Team Mini-summits Strategy and planning
Face to Face Contact Understand tone and personality
Remote Working ~70% of GitHub is remote
But Why? Isn’t it easier to work in an office?
Good People are Everywhere Limiting to geography is, well, limiting
243 GitHubbers 103 cities, as of 9pm yesterday
Freedom to Travel Experience the world, while staying productive
None
Family Life Allows for family freedom
None
Personal Happiness Some people don’t want to live where you
do, and that’s ok
But How? How do you ensure productivity?
Remote First Mindset Assume remote in most situations
Communication Use your words
Asynchronous Workflows Don’t assume people are available whenever you need
Text is the Best Searchable, transcripts, notifications, etc.
Give People Time to Respond Patience is a virtue, and
all that
Chat Rooms We have a lot of them
None
Everyone Uses Chat Even if you’re in the office
/virtual office me Video chat for that in-office experience
None
GitHub Team Our Internal Status App
None
Don’t Email People No history, terrible threading, it’s just bad
And of Course, GitHub Communication with results
How we use GitHub Ideas and workflows
Teams Permissions, mentions, notifications
None
None
Design-specific Repos Repos aren’t just for code
Assets, sometimes Not always, but it can be great
None
Issues For problems, not solutions
None
Design Documents and Projects Keep an up-to-date record of current
efforts
Markdown Files Text with benefits
History See changes to project direction over time
Discussion See the thoughts that lead to conclusions
Pull Requests A workflow for proposing changes
Woah, Woah, Woah I don’t want to use Git
Deal with it, it’s not difficult
Let Me Show You github.com/orderedlist/design-example-repo
Questions?
How Design Works
GitHub Zen Finding your design center
Features are Expensive Creation, maintenance, complexity, real estate
Approachable is Better Than Simple Simple ideas don’t mean simple
execution
Mind Your Words They are important
Communicate Concisely Your customers deserve it
Communicate Thoughtfully Your colleagues deserve it
Put Effort Into Your Words They are more important than
your designs
Speak Like a Human Please
Non-blocking is Better Than Blocking Don’t get in people’s way
Block by Interruption Confirmation, popups, dialogs
Block by Overstimulation Over-design, too many options, distractions
Block by Complication Requiring too much from the user
None
Favor Focus Over Features Say no to things
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to
add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
None
Anything Added Dilutes Everything Else Be careful about additions
When many good ideas present themselves, it's easy to become
distracted. Don't let good ideas get in the way of great execution.
Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard The process of shipping
is incredibly difficult
Wrapping Up A Few Key Points
Communication is Important For your designs and your colleagues
Design Happens Anywhere Not just your office
Backup Your Designs with Words Keep those words meaningful and
documented
Design Better Together It’s better than designing alone
Questions?
Thank you!