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D E S I G N E R S A R E F R O M M A R SE N G I N E E R S A R E F R O M V E N U SJack Cole - Design D irector // July 20, 2015

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Motivate Design is a UX-led design and innovation firm based

in New York City.

We’ll translate your brand concept into engaging customer experiences

that create value at every touch point.

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ABOUT ME• 16 yea rs a s a user ex perience

a nd desig n professiona l

• O ver 10 yea rs work ing w it hin mu lti-disciplina r y in-house desig n a nd development orga nizations

• Addicted to t he “r ush” of creative problem solv ing w it hin a tea m env ironment

• Loves being a pa r t of somet hing bigger t ha n myself

W h a s s u p ?

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T O N I G H T ’ S T O P I C

So... W hat ’s the Deal with the Cheesy Title?

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• Written by John Gray in 1993

• Sold more than 50 million copies

• “Highest ranked work of non-fiction”

of the 1990s (CNN)

• Spent 121 weeks on the bestseller list

I ’ M S O R R YBut Cheesy Titles Sell

I cover all of the basics to make any

relationship easier, to make any

relationship more successful and to

improve communications so that you

can get what you want in a relationship.

- J O H N G R AY, P H . D , A U T H O R

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T H E P R O B L E M

W hy Can’t We All Ju st G et Along?

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P R O B L E M S P A C EDefining the Issue

B U T. . .O P P O R T U N I T Y

At their best, Designers and Development Engineers can come together in order to do ama zing things .

Many from the two disciplines don’t see eye-to-eye cau sing friction and unnecessary road-blocks that can prevent success .

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N O T A N E W T O P I CJust Google It...

6 E A S Y S T E P SH A P P I N E S S & M A G I C I T J U S T M A K E S S E N S E

W hen designers

and developers work

together, they can

make magic happen .

- J O H N B O T I C A

W E B D E V E L O P E R ,

D I G I TA L T E L E PAT H Y

. . .designers and developers

should work together

to create a more complete

web project .

- C A R R I E C O U S I N S

D E S I G N M O D O

If you trust the people

you work with , you can

focus on finishing your

own tasks.

- K Y L E F I E L D E R

P R O D U C T D E S I G N E R /

M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R ,

T H O U G H T B O T

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K E E P I N ’ I T R E A LW hat Happens when Things Get Complicated?

B U T. . .Many articles and interviews reference common best practices as primary advice to readers–great in principle but sometimes hard to do in real life

SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGEFamiliarize yourself with the “lingo” and principles of your counterpart’s field of expertise

EDUCATETeach your counterpart the “basics” of your field of expertise

CREATE TRUSTAcknowledge and convey that “we’re all in it together” to form a bond and push towards success

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P E R S O N A L E X P E R I E N C E

My Story of Partnering with Sof tware Engineers

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Multi-national public facing overhaul of digital footprint including:

• Company-wide rebrand of visua l identity

• Fully-revamped CMS and support network

• Redefined approach to content generation and distribution

• Multi-platform globa l and regiona l layout structure and accompanying interaction library

CHALLENGES

• A dizzying array of stakeholders at a ll levels of the company with no one clear decision maker

• Multiple teams (Marketing, IT/Dev, UX&D, Digita l Services) at odds with globa l/regiona l goa ls and objectives

• Location, time zone and language, variances (New York, Princeton, San Francisco, London, Mumbai, Gurgaon)

• Some teams unaccustomed to Agile Methodolog y

S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C KFol l o w th e S u n (1 P ro jec t , 4 T im e Z o n e s)

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S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C KW hat I Learned

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

• Identification and a lignment with primary development partners—proved crucia l to any type of progress

• Established a firm user experience and design presence within the project team to assure that development was not the only driver/decision maker related to identifying what was possible

HOLISTIC STRATEGY

• Consideration of both end user expectations as well as interna l system and content managers

• Voluntary involvement in multi-disciplinary planning meetings in an effort to understand C-Suite level business requirements, ask questions, and collaborate with developers to offer potentia l solutions

FLEXIBILITY

• Recognition of varied work schedules—fostered goodwill through holding meeting/working sessions at times that were more than just conducive to the office where the UX team was located

• Anticipated opportunities to over-deliver to assure clarity and consistency across a decentra lized development team

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Evolving the ease of use for investors to update profiles and preferences within TDA’s secure log-in environment:

• Review and assess the current information architecture, functiona lity, and interactions

• Incorporate the profiles and preferences user experience and infrastructure to be in line with other recently redesigned TDA domains

• Connect user preference choices to CRM network to improve customer relationship responsiveness

CHALLENGES

• Multiple legacy back-end infrastructures in need of either sunsetting or a revamp in order to make UX improvements

• Over-leveraged project managers causing potentia l lags in the progress of the effort

• Development engineers traditiona lly accustomed to receiving requirements/design concepts and building with little engagement with outside team members

S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D ES a v in g a S eat at th e Ta bl e

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S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D EW hat I Learned

INCLUSION

• Recognized issues with

previous releases being the

lack of knowledge share—

pushed for development

partners to be included in

preliminary meetings (even

when they didn’t want to be)

• Established UX’s presence

in the Dev department—made

efforts to engage through

genera l technolog y inquiries

and visiting for impromptu

brainstorm sessions

INQUIRE TO EDUCATE

• Actively engaged PMs and

development to understand

the back-end environment

in order to cha llenge the

team to consider non-

traditiona l solutions

• Readily recognized the collective wisdom of project team members—welcomed open dia logue around the design concepts presented

TRANSPARENCY

• Explanation of design thinking

and approach in random

discussions encouraged

more sharing across teams

• Over-documentation in

wireframe specs aided

in development paying

closer attention to the

user experience details

• Honest estimation of UX

deliverables was met with

appreciation by a ll

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Pharma client looking to innovate in the mental health space to improve medical adherence in patients:

• Refocus patient-facing app usable for people dea ling with cognitive issues

• Incrementa lly improve functiona lity of existing app in development for review and approva l from the FDA

• Build understanding, empathy, and a viable strateg y that considers the needs of a ll stakeholders involved in the use of the app-based system

CHALLENGES

• Previous efforts around project was entirely driven by development with user experience and design considered an afterthought resulting in a disjointed experience

• Partnering development vendor was a lso previously responsible for design effort and was removed from the project

• Lack of clarity around FDA technica l design filing regulations causing redundancies and inconsistencies in documentation, wasted time, effort, and genera l confusion resulting in difficult project meetings

S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N TKee p C a lm a n d C o u rs e C o r rec t

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S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N TW hat I Learned

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• Practiced professiona l

decorum when meetings

devolved from reviewing

tasks to exchanging insults

• Mined channels of agreement

with vendor partners to press

project objectives forward

• Included development

engineer leads in off-site

conceptua l workshops

removing them from their

norma l working environment

PERSPECTIVE & EMPATHY

• Remained focused on “why we

are here” related to the effort—

improving the lives of patients

struggling to “achieve their

version of norma l”

• Recognized the frustration

of vendor partners who

were previously accustomed

to working with in-house

design team following

a different design and

development process

ACCURACY

• Paid close attention to

unique documentation

demands—designed a f luid

design specification process

accounting for change

management requests

• Clarified design concepts

explicitly as possible—

opened additiona l lines of

communication for developers

to receive immediate feedback

on inquiries

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L I V E YO U R P R I N C I P L E S

T hey G over n How You T hink , Work , and Act

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S

W E A L L D R I V E

No carts and horsesCollective ownership

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S

Y E S , A N D . . .

Build on each otherBuild on what we doO ver-deliver

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S

E X P L O R E , D E S I G N , R E F L E C T & R E F I N E

Follow the processLive the mindset

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S

D E L I V E R E X C E L L E N C E

SubstanceSimplicitySophisticationKick-ass solutions

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S

G R O W T H T H R O U G H P O S I T I V E I N T E R A C T I O N SPlanting not fishingNo assholes

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A D V I C E F O R T H E R E A L W O R L D

My Two Cents on Working Better with Team Members

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R E F R A M EShameless Plug but it Works!

Dig deeper into why you can’t do something. Usually, you can, you are just choosing not to.#REFRAME

SHIFTING YOUR MINDSETReframe your mindset and see problems not as annoying, insurmountable, irrefutable obstacles but as amazing, juicy, creative opportunities.

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J A C K ’ S K E Y T A K E A W A Y SBecause We All Love Lists

YOUR EGO IS NOT YOUR AMIGOWa lking into an engagement where you think you’re the smartest person in the room is a bad start. Be nice and professiona l—a lways.

ESTABLISH YOUR PROCESSBeing clear and up front about how you work then identifying how team members operate sets expectations that don’t become surprises later on down the line.

DEVELOPMENT IS PART OF THE DESIGNConsidering what is possible at the outset is the starting point for where to cha llenge convention.

ADAPTBe ready and willing to adjust the course of a project, plan, or relationship when things aren’t working.

ASKING “WHAT IF”Engaging in collaborative ideation with multi-disciplinary team members can produce surprising results.

LIVE THE DREAMApproaching any engagement as your next opportunity to do something amazing with a team of new people that you can share ideas from and leverage each other’s best attributes is the reason why we’re a ll here (or at least it should be) so make the most of it!

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T H A N K S A M I L L I O N