DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
&
Embracing the
UNLEASH
UNICORN
YOUR
INNER
SPECTRUM OF
Matt Baxter • @mbxtr • September 6, 2014
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I’m
Matt Baxter
@mbxtr
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I work at
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as a
UX Designer
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Using design
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and development
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Just to clarify…
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This is not
about bronies.
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But Seriously,
What’s with The
Unicorn?
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A person who can do both
design and development.
Unicorn
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Some unicorn facts…
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must have their coffee.
Unicorns
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only eat apples.
Unicorns
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love playing ping pong.
Unicorns
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don’t get along
with printers.
Unicorns
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Something you think
you know about
unicorns…
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Unicorns
are rare and hard to find.
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Unicorns
are rare and hard to find.
But, why?
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We think about design
and development as
separate disciplines.
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http://sixrevisions.com/infographics/web-designers-vs-web-developers-infographic/
Designer Developer
vs
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Left Right
vs
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Unicorns are not as
rare as you think.
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I believe everyone has
some unicorn in them.
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Specifically…
Designers can develop.
Developers can design.
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!
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MY BACKGROUND
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Remember when
this was cool?
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GRiD Compass
First clamshell laptop
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Xerox PARC Mouse
The first mouse
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Desktop GUI History
Xerox, Apple, and Microsoft
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“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
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But, I still enjoyed
development.
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Design Development
or
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Design Development
and
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the Spectrum
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Development
Design
How We Think
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Development
Design
What We’ve Accepted
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Development
Design
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???
???
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What crosses the
developer boundary?
>
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Development is much
more than code.
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What crosses the
designer boundary?
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Design is much
more than pixels.
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Reality
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Individuals are more
complicated than that.
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Software is more
complicated than that.
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Design and development
is a spectrum.
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The Right
Perspective
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This sounds familiar…
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“Should”
is the wrong focus.
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The better question is…
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How can knowing more
about development
empower designers?
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How can knowing more
about design
empower developers?
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“But, if I learn x I’ll
get worse at y.”
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If your goal is to make
great software, learning
more about the process
will only help you.
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Tools
are the wrong focus.
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“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
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Being a unicorn is more than
combining code and pixels.
>
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The true ability of a unicorn:
being able to balance
design and development.
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Understanding
Your Job
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Titles can be
confusing.
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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
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A developer is not
just a coder.
>
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“I just built what
the designer
handed to me.”
#stuffcoderssay
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A designer is not just
a pixel pusher.
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“I designed it; its
not my job to make
sure it works.”
#stuffpixelpusherssay
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It’s not enough to just
focus on “your” part.
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Focus on the
deliverables
product.
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This is Bob.
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Bob uses apps.
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Why does Bob use
certain apps?
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I use this app
because the code
is well-written!
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I use this app
because these
pixels are perfect!
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SAID NO
USER EVER
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I use this app because I can
more easily ______.
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I use this app because it
enables me to ______.
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Users only see the
final product.
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Great software is more
than pixels and code.
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Everyone’s job is to
balance design and
technology.
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What will the
result be?
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Compromise
Everyone designs
Everyone develops
It won’t be…
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Tension between design
and development is good.
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“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.
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It will be…
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Better communication
and collaboration
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More empathy
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Fewer assumptions
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Less busy-work
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Push limits of technology
Estimate development
Prototype
Designers will
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Begin sooner
Adapt designs
Have less back-and-forth
Developers will