Pair Design for Creative Teams

A talk by Dot Dotter (@d0tdotter) about increasing your design skills & efficiency by pairing with a partner. Continue the conversation @PairDesignCo with the hashtag #pairdesign.

Transcript

1. P It takes two. (to make it outta sight)
2. Hi, I’m @karldotter, a Pair Designer @PairDesignCo P
3. Let’s have a conversation + design time = a #talkshop
4. • workflow • wireframes • visual design • style guide • business objectives • unit tests • front end • code • storymap • moodboards artifacts {
5. A common design scenario: 1. Team figured out the high level approach. • Should have as little form fields as possible • Should have inline error validation 2. You go figure out the details!
6. Most of the time the detail work is done in isolation.
7. -Mike Monteiro, @Mike_FTW
8. Do you pair program? (yes? raise your hand.)
9. • 1 monitor • 2 keyboards • 2 mice • both taking turns • backseat/front seat Pair Programming
10. Designers Developers
11. All kinds of hats can pair
12. Designers, developers, strategists, advocacy, operations... (& other hats)
13. Do you pair design? (yes? raise your hand.)
14. • 2 designers ( a generator + a synthesizer) • one keyboard • one mouse (or 2) (functional) Pair Design
15. Do you pair cross- functionally? (ex. with a designer + developer) (yes? raise your hand.)
16. Pair Design • designer + dev • one keyboard • one mouse (or 2) (cross-functional)
17. Why pair design?
18. Increase information flow
19. Increase critical thinking
20. Increase trust building
21. How do we Pair Design w/ design + dev?
22. “Its disruptive if a designer wants to sit next to us and pair.” Dev on Pair Design. Real Talk. “We need to be ok with being interrupted in our schedule.” - +
23. “ I feel like the creative process needs space. There is some part of it that is not collaborative.” @TildeWill
24. Make peace. Build trust by pairing cross- functionally.
25. How do we Pair Design w/ 2 designers ?
26. “design pairing is not collaboration, it is when you sit down and work together on a single artifact.” @shmuel
27. “I can see the efficiency of pair design. There’s 1000 decisions in that finishing work, a small interaction or press down state, seeing the gaps that you have, or iterating on copy.” @loudawg, David Louie, UI Designer
28. Heavy lifting = team lift.
29. Cross-functional or functional?
30. Pair different types of designers or developers together on a new project or hackathon: Product, front-end developer, ux or visual designers. ex. UX Designer + Viz Designer pairing on a design problem together. or, a UX Designer + Developer. TRY PAIR DESIGNING.
31. Let’s practice pair designing, right now. pair design challenge
32. (at least, verbally w/ a partner)
33. Your objective: In 2 minutes. Identify a specific design goal to work on together for the following screenshot of skype for ipad.
34. find your pair (try the person next to you)
35. I’m a ______________________ ? “ “
36. I’m a visual designer v “ “
37. I’m a user experience designer u “ “
38. Share and trade your skills.
39. Your objective: In 2 minutes. Identify a specific design goal to work on together for the following screenshot of skype for ipad.
40. paired up? ready, set...
42. (wrap up your conversation)
43. Now, evaluate what you learned • Did it hurt to pair design? • Did you have fun? • Did you share design skills?
44. • have a better design in less time • redesign less • have an attitude of action (think, make, check) • communicate better • let go of your design ego and say “I don’t know how, show me.” what if you could ...
45. Q: What types of communication skills could you use to pair effectively? Q: Did you experience any of these? Clarity: Communicate effectively. Brevity: Limit feedback & time. Compassion: Active listening.
46. The hypothesis: Pairing makes design time more efficient.
47. Help with P.A.I.R = P airers A gainst I nefficiency & R ework)
48. Pairing can fail. Please try again.
49. Frequently Asked Questions Q: “Should I be pairing 100% of the time?” A: You don’t have to pair 100% the time. Just try to make pairing a good habit. Q: “What design stages are best to pair in?” A: This is tricky. Ask the question: Can we test our hypothesis with what we’re working on? A tangible artifact could be a wireframe, rough mockup, interactive prototype, high-fidelity visual design or front-end code. Q: “What if I can’t pair every day?” A: Try online design tools to fill gaps in feedback & communication. (ex. Pixelapse.com: a GitHub for saving & sharing design work and Easel.io: a high-fidelity html/ css design tool in the browser)
50. 1. Try pair designing this week. 2. Report back, send feedback @ info@pairdesign.co 3. Was it good? bad? 4. Need more help? Let me know. Challenge!
51. P Thanks for pairing together.
52. Share stories or feedback? Continue the conversation @pairdesignco w/ hashtag #pairdesign #talkshop info@PairDesign.co P