As a designer, have you ever felt frustrated by having to break the creative process up into tiny task boxes that block the way to good design?
Have you ever felt frustrated by a lack of structure, leading to endless rework, crossed communication lines, and plain old wasted time?
There's too much process in some cultures, and not enough in others. And we declare that we hate process or we love process, as though that were an immutable quality of our souls.
But what do designers need?
We believe in a core, necessary way of sequencing design work to get the best results. Borrowing from Design Sojourn’s Brian Ling, we express this core as “Think – Draw – Make.” When process chafes us as designers, it’s a sign that an organization is unbalanced in one of these three key activities. If they front-load a project with tons of research and still can’t make a decision, they’re caught in “think.” If they ask us to come to the kickoff with wireframes, they’re caught in “draw.” If they’re hell-bent on getting to build immediately, they’re caught in “make.” Similarly, we’re not blank slates, either – each of us brings our particular skills to a project, and we have our own attachments, as well.
Our presentation will discuss how to know which culture you’re dealing with, where you sit with regard to that culture, and provide some skills for how to bring yourself and the culture together back into balance.
Eye-Catching Web Design Crafting User Interfaces .docx
I Hate Process. I Love Process. IXD12. Christina Persson & Joan Vermette.
1. I Hate Process. I Love Process
Why
designers
are
divided
about
process
&
what
to
do
about
it.
Joan Vermette, @jayeffvee
User Experience Consultant
E. Christina Persson, @christina_xd
Experience Design Director
3. What
we’ll
talk
about
• The
Hate/Love
debate
over
process
• The
Intersec9on
• How
to
create
change
in
organiza9ons
to
get
what
we
need
• How
to
iden9fy
and
assess
our
own
orienta9on
and
skills
9. So
what’s
the
right
answer?
It
depends.
.
.
.
like
anything
we
design.
10. When
7
out
of
10
Americans
were
asked
about
the
last
9me
9me
they
felt
they
“had
to
have”
a
product,
it
was
due
to
design.
Kelton
Research
Marty
Neumeier,
The
Designful
Company,
2009
11. 47%
of
“rapidly
growing”
Bri9sh
businesses
rank
design
first
among
their
key
success
factors.
Design
Council
study.
Marty
Neumeier,
The
Designful
Company,
2009
12. Plan
–
Define
-‐-‐
Develop
–
Extend
Gather
Assump9ons
&
Requirements
-‐
Analyze
Compe99on
-‐
Understand
Goals
&
Tasks
-‐
Develop
Personas
&
Scenarios
-‐
Build
Content
Model
-‐
Design
Informa9on
Architecture
-‐
Priori9ze
Features
-‐
Design
Interac9on
–
Prototypes
&
Pa>erns
–
Validate
Usability
Define
the
problem
-‐
Gather
per9nent
informa9on
-‐
Generate
mul9ple
solu9ons
-‐
Analyze
and
select
a
solu9on
-‐
Test
and
implement
the
solu9on
Research
-‐
Modeling
-‐
Scenarios
-‐
Framework
-‐
Detailed
Design
Prepare
–
Understand
–
Render
–
Iterate
–
Test
-‐
Enable
Inves9gate
–
Sketch
–
Build
Conceive
–
Plan
–
Make
Uncover
-‐
Define
-‐
Ideate
-‐
Build
the
Concept
–
Design
Understand
-‐
Explore
-‐
Ar9culate
–
Realize
Analysis
-‐
Design
-‐
Implementa9on
–
Deployment
Define
–
Design
–
Guide
Research
&
Analysis
-‐
Concept
–
Design
-‐
Develop
Analyze
-‐
Create
-‐
Test
Ask
-‐
Imagine
-‐
Plan
-‐
Create
–
Improve
Define
-‐
Collect
-‐
Brainstorm
and
Analyze
-‐
Develop
-‐
Feedback
–
Improve
Discover
–
Define
–
Develop
–
Deliver
Concept
-‐
Prototype
-‐
Validate
Internally
-‐
Test
Externally
-‐
Learn
from
User
Behavior
-‐
Iterate
Iden9fy
the
Problem
-‐
Iden9fy
Criteria
and
Constraints
-‐
Brainstorm
Possible
Solu9ons
-‐
Generate
Ideas
-‐
Explore
Possibili9es
-‐
Select
an
Approach
-‐
Build
a
Model
or
Prototype
-‐
Refine
the
Design
Discovery
&
Research
-‐
Interac9on
Design
-‐
Visual
Design
–
Engineering
22. D
Think
M
The
Organiza9on
h>p://www.flickr.com/photos/lauggh/443244547/in/faves-‐74877869@N05/
23. D
Think
M
The
Organiza9on
Indicators
• Over-‐focus
on
data
&
proof
• Lack
of
focus
on
the
outcome
• Endless
discussions
about
strategy
• Sense
that
the
team
is
looking
for
the
one
true
perfect
–
&
provable
–
answer
24. D
Think
M
The
Organiza9on
Facilitates
Make
Facilitates
Draw
• Create
project
plan
• Start
sketching!
• Create
brief
with
team
• Keep
sketching!
• Publish
plan
and
brief
• Test
• Refer
to
plan/brief
regularly
• Refine
• Establish
guidelines
for
“Research
project”
27. T
Draw
M
h>p://www.flickr.com/photos/richardmccoy/6379314895/
28. T
Draw
The
Organiza9on
M
Indicators
• “I
know
it
when
I
see
it.”
• Nonchalance
at
the
business
goal
and
the
defini9on
phase.
• Design
by
trial
&
error:
changing
requirements
• When
you
approach
finishing
the
design
asympto9cally.
You
never
finish
the
details.
29. T
Draw
The
Organiza9on
M
Facilitates
Think
Facilitates
Make
• Design
Studio
• Set
design
milestones
• Steal
other
peoples’
• Capture
the
tenets
and
research
keep
referring
back
to
• Ask
“How
do
we
know
them
when
we
hit
the
mark?”
• Introduce
the
concept
of
• Ask
“Why”
five
9mes
phasing
31. D
T
Make
The
Organiza9on
h,p://www.flickr.com/photos/dukejeffrie/17764144/in/faves-‐74877869@N05/
32. D
T
Make
The
Organiza9on
Indicators
• Your
key
indicator
is
when
they
are
focused
on
produc9on,
and
don’t
leave
room
for
visioning.
• When
you
feel
like
you’re
taking
an
oral-‐
exam
on
what
you’ve
learned
up
to
that
point,
and
are
learning
nothing
new.
• When
drawing
is
not
specula9ve
• There’s
no
9me
for
“what
if….?”
33. D
T
Make
The
Organiza9on
Facilitates
Think
Facilitates
Draw
• Collude
with
the
business
• Don’t
do
wireframes
• Sprint
Zero
(for
Agile)
• Create
a
mini-‐spec
• Pull
the
differen9ators
into
• Use
screenshots
as
starter
a
separate
environment
to
explore
ideas
• Ad-‐hoc
sketch/whiteboard
sessions
with
core
team
• Proof-‐of-‐Concept
sprints
(for
Agile)
34. Facilitates
Think
• Design
Studio
• Steal
other
peoples’
research
• Ask
“Why”
five
9mes
• Collude
with
the
business
• Ask
“How
do
we
know
we
hit
the
mark?”
• Sprint
Zero
for
vision
work
(Agile)
• Pull
the
market
differen9ators
into
a
separate
environment
Illustra9on:
Brandon
Baselice
35. Facilitates
Draw
• Start
sketching
&
keep
sketching
• Test
&
refine
• Don’t
do
wireframes
• Mini-‐spec
if
team
needs
some
guidance
• Use
drawing
to
elucidate
the
not
yet
ar9culated
needs.
• Ad-‐hoc
sketch
sessions
with
core
team.
• Use
screenshots
as
starter
to
explore
ideas
• Use
latest
build
as
prototype
to
test
implemented
design
• Proof-‐of-‐concept
sprint
to
enable
explora9on
(Agile)
• Pull
the
market
differen9ators
into
a
separate
environment
36. Facilitates
Make
• Create
brief
with
team
(via
kick-‐off
with
stakeholders
&
core
team).
• Set
design
milestones,
or
even
overall
project
plan
• Publish
plan
and
brief
• Refer
to
plan
and
brief
regularly
(to
counter
changing
requirements)
• Capture
the
tenets
&
keep
referring
to
them
• Introduce
concept
of
phasing
• Establish
guidelines
for
a
‘research
project’
Illustra9on:
Brandon
Baselice
37. Enter
into
the
enemy’s
strengths
in
order
to
defeat
them
from
within.
Walter
Benjamin
h>p://walterbenjaminportbou.cat/en/content/walter-‐benjamin
38. D
Engage
+
Guide
=
Balance
Think
M
.
.
.
start
with
their
strength
If
you’re
expected
to
bring
research
results
to
the
next
mee9ng,
bring
sketches
based
on
those
research
results.
39. Engage
+
Guide
=
Balance
Draw
.
.
.
start
with
their
strength
T
M
Host
a
design
studio
to
gather
requirements
and
funnel
down
to
single
concept.
40. D
Engage
+
Guide
=
Balance
T
Make
.
.
.
start
with
their
strength
Use
the
latest
build
as
a
prototype
and
put
in
front
of
users
to
uncover
user
needs.
46. • When
you’re
on
a
project,
what
gives
you
that
sense
of
flow?
• Do
you
find
it
impossible
to
grasp
and
organize
details
un9l
you
have
a
sense
of
the
whole?
• Do
you
frequently
feel
“I
don’t
know
the
solu9on
un9l
I
see
it?”
• Do
you
find
it
hard
to
act
un9l
you
know
the
dates?
Joan
Verme>e
47. You
can
be
in
sync
with
the
organiza9on
and
get
sucked
into
the
vortex.
h>p://sc6.blogspot.com/2010/04/todays-‐quote-‐when-‐was-‐this-‐quote-‐made.html
48. You
can
be
out
of
sync
with
the
organiza9on
And
feel
an
inordinate
amount
of
stress
h>p://www.flickr.com/photos/photolosophybyruss/5465729022/
50. So
it’s
good
to
know
where
you
fit
And
know
where
you
need
to
grow.
51. Summary
• The
Hate/Love
debate
• The
Intersec9on
– Do
the
designers
&
organiza9on
have
what
they
need?
• Iden9fy
+
Engage
+
Guide
=
Balance
– Iden9fy
the
organiza9on
– Engage
via
their
strength
– Guide
&
develop
weak
design
muscles
• Start
with
yourself
52. Discussion
Tell
us
your
stories.
What
remedies
have
you
used
or
would
try?
What
struggles
are
you
facing?
What
are
your
successes?
E.
Chris9na
Persson
Joan
Verme>e
chris9na@madpow.com
jayeffvee@mac.com
@chris9na_xd
@jayeffvee
Thanks
to
Brian
Ling
(thinkdrawmake.com,
Design
Sojourn).
53. Sources:
Models
of
the
Design
Process
• Think
–
Draw
–
Make.
Brian
Ling,
thinkdrawmake.com,
Design
Sojourn
• Define
the
problem
-‐
Gather
per9nent
informa9on
-‐
Generate
mul9ple
solu9ons
-‐
Analyze
and
select
a
solu9on
-‐
Test
and
implement
the
solu9on
[Industry
Ini9a9ves
for
Science
and
Math
Educa9on
(IISME)]
• Research
-‐
Modeling
-‐
Scenarios
-‐
Framework
-‐
Detailed
Design
[Cooper's
descrip9on
of
their
process]
• Discovery
&
Research
-‐
Interac9on
Design
-‐
Visual
Design
–
Engineering
[Boxes
and
Arrows]
• Ask
-‐
Imagine
-‐
Plan
-‐
Create
–
Improve
[EiE:
Engineering
is
Elementary]
• Define
-‐
Collect
-‐
Brainstorm
and
Analyze
-‐
Develop
-‐
Feedback
–
Improve
[Chicago
Architecture
Founda9on]
• Research
&
analysis
-‐
Concept
-‐
Design
–
Develop
[Konigi.
Note,
every
cycle
here
has
analyze
-‐
create
–
test]
• Understand
-‐
Explore
-‐
Ar9culate
–
Realise
[Meld
studios]
• Analysis
-‐
Design
-‐
Implementa9on
–
Deployment
[UPA]
• Gather
Assump9ons
&
Requirements
-‐
Analyze
Compe99on
-‐
Understand
Goals
&
Tasks
-‐
Develop
Personas&
Scenarios
-‐
Build
Content
Model
-‐
Design
Informa9on
Architecture
-‐
Priori9ze
Features
-‐
Design
Interac9on
-‐
Prototypes
&
Pa>erns
-‐
Validate
Usability.
[Peter
Merholz,
peterme.com
2002.]
• Concept
-‐
Prototype
-‐
Validate
Internally
-‐
Test
Externally
-‐
Learn
from
User
Behavior
–
Iterate
[Jeff
Gothelf]
• Conceive
-‐
Plan
–
Make
[Richard
Buchanan]
• Define-‐
Design
–
Guide
[Joan
Verme>e]
• Plan
-‐
Define
-‐
Develop
–
Extend.
[Russ
Unger]
• Prepare
–
Understand
–
Render
–
Iterate
–
Test
Enable[(Purite
Process,
Russ
Unger]
• Discover
–
Define
–
Develop
–
Deliver
[Bri9sh
Design
Council]
• Inves9gate
–
Sketch
–
Build
[Chris9na
Persson]
• Iden9fy
the
Problem
-‐
Iden9fy
Criteria
and
Constraints
-‐
Brainstorm
Possible
Solu9ons
-‐
Generate
Ideas
-‐
Explore
Possibili9es
-‐
Select
an
Approach
-‐
Build
a
Model
or
Prototype
-‐
Refine
the
Design.
[NASA]
• Uncover
-‐
Define
-‐
Ideate
-‐
Build
the
Concept
–
Design
[David
Armano]
• Design
process
visualiza9on.
[David
Armano]
