Adopting a Design Thinking methodology is critical to modern product design. Or so you’ve been told. Yet, a Design Thinking process doesn’t guarantee a transformation of your design culture, nor does it mean you’ll end up with a better product. Why is this? People. After interviewing local start-up designers and developers, Chris will delve into the common missteps that plague your fellow designers and team leaders. He’ll also share his philosophy on how designers can better position Design Thinking in their organizations to ensure it takes root and blossoms.

1. PRACTICAL DESIGN THINKING
FOR
THE MODERN STARTUP

2. ME: OWNER & DESIGNER OF CASHDOLLAR DESIGN
(FANCY WORDS FOR “FREELANCER”)

3. 01. PRACTITIONER OF DESIGN

4. 02. FACILITATOR OF DESIGN

5. 03.EVANGELIST OF DESIGN

6. 2001

7. Dat agency life:
Schedules & scope? Yup.
Clear roles & responsibilities? Indeed.
Clear, frequent communication? Oh, yes.

8. #agencylife
Thoughtful user experience
Beautiful user interface
Driven by (some) research

9. EMPHATHIZE
DEFINE
IDEATEPROTOTYPE
TEST
The Design Thinking Methodology

10. Design Thinking requires:
Teamwork.
An unified vision.
Time.
Effort.
…Official Handbook?

11. Clarity from Chaos
(#BLESSED)

12. Confessions

13. Our Goal

14. design | dəˈzīn |
Noun
Verb
Job title?

15. Want: Design as a shared responsibility.

16. — OBI-WAN
Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing thru him.

17. — ME
Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing thru it.
Design ThinkingStartup

18. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“In some organizations, design is not the process or the upfront
work; it’s the ‘“pretty stuff.’”

19. Large
Pizza
Chain

20. Fact: Half of sales were digital.
Fact: 2014 revenue was $1.6 billion

21. Designers designed…and developers, um, waited.

22. – DEVELOPER, START-UP
“It's a fantastic moment when a developer describes how they've
changed a product because they saw a user become frustrated the
week before.”

23. Everyone was equally important.

24. OLD MODEL FOR DESIGN
PRODUCT DESIGN ENGINEERING

25. — CAP WATKINS, VP OF DESIGN BUZZFEED
Great work is done by people who accept that everyone on their
team co-owns the product, the design, the code.

26. POST “OWNERSHIP” MODEL
DESIGN
ENGINEERING
PRODUCT

27. Design Thinking was not optional.

29. – CUSTOMER
“Eating cold pizza and watching Payton Manning who endorsed you
guys really is bad. Really cold pizza. I'll put it in the microwave to warm
it up. I guess you don't need me as a customer.”

30. – CUSTOMER
“Hello, I live in Australia. I did not order a pizza?! Jennifer”

31. – CUSTOMER
“I live out-of-country but have a U.S. associated FPO address.
Not being able to order the food means that I can't help my girlfriend
with one of the very few things that I should be able to do for her
despite my distance.”

33. –ANTHONY COLANGELO, DEVELOPER
“When you are present, you are able to ask questions that are
important to you early in the project, so you don’t get into the bad
situations later on. You don’t get left to trying to make decisions on
your own at the 11th hour.”

34. Leveled-up to “Design Infused.”

35. What is “Design Infused”?

36. HTTPS://MEDIUM.COM/UIE-BRAIN-SPARKS/PREPARING-ORGANIZATIONS-TO-BECOME-DESIGN-INFUSED-8A0D93B50D36
"...design-infused organizations where every individual contributor
makes great design a priority in their work."

37. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“There needs to be a holistic, team-based approach instead of“‘This
is engineering’ and ‘This is the product guys designing things.’”

38. HTTPS://MEDIUM.COM/UIE-BRAIN-SPARKS/PREPARING-ORGANIZATIONS-TO-BECOME-DESIGN-INFUSED-8A0D93B50D36
Step 1: Embrace Regular and Frequent Exposure to Users
Step 2: Embrace a Solid Vision of A Future Experience for Users
Step 3: Embrace a Culture of Continuous Learning

39. Working together, design infused teams are able
to move faster, solving problems earlier

40. – DESIGNER, START-UP
“In order for design thinking to be successful, it’s has to be
important for everyone in the company, C-Level down.”

41. “Championing” design only goes so far.
(Hint: Change doesn't happen from the inbox up.)

43. You hit delete.

44. What kind of investment in design
should I make? Or should you expect?

45. –CTO, START UP
“Simply put, you need to talk to people about your product. That’s a
really cheap thing to do.”

46. A little bit of research is better
than no research.

47. Downside: Research takes time.

48. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“People understand that if you put a little bit of time in upfront that
you going get huge gains downstream.”

49. Upside: Research takes time.

50. HTTP://WWW.GV.COM/LIB/HOW-TO-PRIORITIZE-CUSTOMER-RESEARCH-WHEN-EVERYTHING-IS-A-PRIORITY
How will it affect your business if the design
doesn’t perform as expected?

51. Not getting what you need?
Be the influencer.

52. Championing design means educating
about design.
01/03

53. Talk / Write / Demonstrate everything that goes
into your work. Be your own best advocate.

54. Everything is a draft. Until it isn’t.
02/03

55. More meetings. Seriously.
03/03

56. Find a way to change the UX culture, one
Design Thinking exercise at a time.

57. Secluded geniuses need not apply.

58. UX tipping point vs. IT tipping point
HTTPS://MEDIUM.COM/UIE-BRAIN-SPARKS/BEYOND-THE-UX-TIPPING-POINT-AC5EE6C4A7E2

59. Your survival is at stake.

60. Be the change you want to see in the world.

61. Be the change you want to see in the world.
on your team.

62. Thank you and good luck.
chris@cashdollardesign.com
@ccashdollar
www.chriscashdollar.com

63. Need design help?
chris@cashdollardesign.com
@ccashdollar
www.chriscashdollar.com

64. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“Teams can get into a bad habit of building…and building…but not
really thinking about what is being put out there.”

65. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“Onto the next feature…onto the next feature…and no one is really
doing much in terms of basic research; figuring out what users
want. No body is fighting for the user.”

66. –UX DESIGNER, START-UP
“You end up in a situation where you end up with a feature request at
the same time you get the request to build it.”

67. –UX DEVELOPER, START-UP
“Yes, you want this feature…but what’s the exact use case?”