10 Things You Should Know About Design

Jason Putorti VP of Design, Brigade

Follow me @putorti

10 things you need to know about design

A lever for business More than pretty pictures Talks benefits not features Thinks in flows not screens Is intuitive Starts with a great story Solves business problems Develops empathy for the user Learns cheaply before building Repeats and refines

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

Design is

A Great Design

Process

Great Design

A lever for business

1Design is…

I need your bank passwords. Trust me.

P O W E R E D b y S E R V I C E™

“I’m on twitter.”

dustincurtis.com/you_should_follow_me_on_twitter.html

“You should follow me on twitter here.”

dustincurtis.com/you_should_follow_me_on_twitter.html

+173% increase in clicks

More than pretty pictures

2Design is…

Design thinkingThe essential ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success.

User experienceHow a person feels about using your product.

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WCAG-2 / section 508

compliance

colorscheme and contrast media use

graphic elements

placement

of elements

naming and

categorization

tone of voice

typography navigation

intuitiveness

structure

appropriate for

purpose

expected

information

no unexpected errors

conformity consistency

verifyability

satis

faction d

ifferen

tiatio

n

un

iquen

ess

content / presentation

separation

na

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arke

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expected functionality

launch

implem

entation

graphic design

interaction design information architecture

content a

nd funct

iona

lity

use

r req

uire

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ts

str

ategic foundation

phase

phase

phase

p

hase

production

development

conceptu

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st

rate

gic

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provider

experi

ence

user

VALUE

findability accessability desirability usability

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‣ Going through the sign up flow

‣ Completing a task in the product

‣ Error message in the product

Customer experienceThe sum of all interactions a customer has with your company, positive, or negative.

‣ Going through the sign up flow

‣ Completing a task in the product

‣ Error message in the product

‣ Viewing your home page

‣ Reading a marketing email

‣ Dealing with customer service

‣ Going through the sign up flow +5

‣ Completing a task in the product +10

‣ Error message in the product -5

‣ Viewing your home page +1

‣ Reading a marketing email -10

‣ Dealing with customer service -5

User experience + Customer experience =

Brand

Talks benefits not features

3Great design...

Understand your money

20 colorful configurable charts and

graphs of your spending

vs

MINT.COM

Your stuff, anywhere

1000GB of syncing cloud

storage for mobile phones, desktops, etc.

vs

DROPBOX

Accept credit cards at

2.75% + 15¢vs

Thinks in flows not screens

4Great design...

Log In

1. User enters email address into email field.

2. User presses tab, or clicks into new field

3. User enters password into password field.

4. User clicks Log In button.

5. System validates login information. If okay, User is taken to Overview page.

Is intuitive

5Great design...

When a gorilla walks into an experiment, what they say is ‘What do I do now? Where's the banana?’ S E T H G O D I N

Obvious Requires Thought

“Is that a button?”

home“Is this what I want? Should

I keep looking?”

share

Interaction Scale

Things that most people do, most often, should be prioritized first.

Things that some people do, somewhat often, should come second.

Things that few people do, infrequently, should come last.

SCOTT BURKUN

Minimize noise

Omit needless words

Users pick the first reasonable option.

dustincurtis.com/dear_american_airlines.html

Starts with a great story

6A great design process...

What Why Where When Who How

“For target customers who have a problem, our product is a new category that provides solution to that problem. Unlike the

alternatives, we have a key differentiator.”

“Does everyone on your team know what the [user] experience will be like

interacting with your offerings five years from now?”

JARED SPOOL

“How would it work if it were human?” KIM GOODWIN

“How would it work if it were magic?” KIM GOODWIN

Solves business problems

7A great design process...

Develops empathy for the user

8A great design process...

“In the last six weeks, have your team members spent at least two hours

watching people experience your product or service?”

JARED SPOOL

Learns cheaply before building

9A great design process...

Repeats & Refines

10A great design process...

Have a feedback mechanism

Allot product cycles to improvement

“In the last six weeks, has your senior management held a celebration of a

recently introduced design problem?” JARED SPOOL

“Reduction through successive refinement is the only path to

simplicity.” KEVIN MULLET / DARRELL SANO

A lever for business More than pretty pictures Talks benefits not features Thinks in flows not screens Is intuitive Starts with a great story Solves business problems Develops empathy for the user Learns cheaply before building Repeats and refines

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

Design is

A Great Design

Process

Great Design