This is a case study about designing QuickBooks Online for the iPad. We share our vision and design principles, our process, and how we collaborated across our company.

1. A HANDS-ON LOOK AT
DORELLE RABINOWITZ
ERICA DECKER
MOBILE + WEB DEVCON
DESIGNING FOR
THE IPAD
JANUARY 29, 2014

2. ERICA
DECKER
DORELLE
RABINOWITZ
@twitterissilly
ericadecker.com
@dorelvis
dorelvis.com

3. OUR MISSION
IMPROVE OUR
CUSTOMERS’
FINANCIAL LIVES
SO PROFOUNDLY…
THEY CAN’T
IMAGINE GOING
BACK TO THE OLD
WAY

4. QUICKBOOKS 101:
INTRO TO
QUICKBOOKS FOR
IPAD

5. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
INITIALLY TARGETED
FOR VERY SMALL,
SERVICE-BASED
BUSINESSES,
IT’S AN IOS NATIVE
APP DESIGNED
SPECIFICALLY FOR
THE IPAD.

6. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
INITIALLY TARGETED
FOR VERY SMALL,
SERVICE-BASED
BUSINESSES,
IT’S AN IOS NATIVE
APP DESIGNED
SPECIFICALLY FOR
THE IPAD.

7. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
INITIALLY TARGETED
FOR VERY SMALL,
SERVICE-BASED
BUSINESSES,
IT’S AN IOS NATIVE
APP DESIGNED
SPECIFICALLY FOR
THE IPAD.

8. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
CREATE ESTIMATES
& INVOICES

9. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
CREATE ESTIMATES
& INVOICES

10. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
GET SIGNATURES

11. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
TAKE NOTES

12. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
GET PAID

13. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
CAPTURE EXPENSES

14. QUICKBOOKS FOR IPAD
SEE HOW YOUR
BUSINESS IS DOING

15. QUICKBOOKS 2014

16. QUICKBOOKS 2011
Online
Mobile
Desktop

17. PRODUCT JOURNEY
Phase 1
Reinvent everything
Phase 2
Integrate with older products
Phase 3
…and beyond!
Develop the entire small
business ecosystem
Develop the mobile ecosystem

18. “
I DON’T HAVE A
DESIGNER. I HAVE
TO DO IT MYSELF.
—SOME DEVELOPER
”

19. “
HOW DO I
WORK WITH MY
DEVELOPERS?
— DORELLE (AND YOU?)
”

20. “
ARE THERE DESIGN
THINGS I CAN DO,
EVEN THOUGH I’M A
DEVELOPER?
—SOME DEVELOPER
”

21. DESIGN-LED DOESN’T
MEAN DESIGNER-LED.

22. VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
DESIGN PROCESS
COLLABORATION
1
2
3

23. VISION
& DESIGN PRINCIPLES

24. VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
A PRODUCT VISION INSPIRES AND ALIGNS THE TEAM
TO DELIVER NOTHING
LESS THAN AWESOME.

25. VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
VS

26. Sam
Owner & Sole Proprietor
Bruce
Contractor, works on site
Wendy
Contractor, helps at the office
VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES

27. Help me provide
great customer service
on the go.
Help me stay
organized
Help me look
professional and
land the job!
VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES

28. VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
ECOSYSTEM DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Our apps should work in harmony with each other.
Establish modern and iconic ownable moments.
Be simple, easy to use, and guiding.
Design for the user and instill confidence.
Celebrate data while respecting user and device context.

29. VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
OUR APPS SHOULD WORK IN HARMONY
Mac iPad iPhone

30. iPad Mac
iPhone
VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
SIMPLE. EASY TO USE, GUIDING

31. iPad Mac
iPhone
VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
DATA IS KING

32. Mac
VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
CONTEXT IS QUEEN
iPad iPhone

33. iPad
iPhone
VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
DESIGN FOR THE USER

34. VISIONS & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
CREATE OWNABLE MOMENTS

35. ALIGNING ON VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
KEEPS THE TEAM
ON TRACK.

36. RE-IMAGINING QUICKBOOKS
OUR DESIGN
PROCESS

37. DESIGN PROCESS

38. 4 + 4 = 8 8 = 4 + 4
= 2 + 6
8 = 4 x 2
= 12 - 4
8 = 24/3
Discovery of what is “right”.
The so-called “correct” answer.
Discovery of what WORKS.
So many POSSIBLE answers.
TRADITIONAL THINKING
DESIGNING
FOR DELIGHT
DESIGNING
FOR CORRECT
DESIGN THINKING

39. CONFIDENTIAL
DESIGN PROCESS
DEEP CUSTOMER EMPATHY
Follow me homes… Customer workshops… Alpha users…
Interviews…Diary studies…Personas

40. VISIT AND OBSERVE
YOUR CUSTOMERS.

41. CONFIDENTIAL
DESIGN PROCESS
GO BROAD TO GO NARROW

42. IT’S OKAY TO CHANGE DIRECTION AS LONG AS
YOU’RE SOLVING THE
RIGHT PROBLEMS.

43. CONFIDENTIAL
DESIGN PROCESS
RAPID EXPERIMENTS WITH CUSTOMERS

44. DESIGN, BUILD,
ITERATE. OFTEN.

45. DESIGN PROCESS
DESIGN PROCESS CHALLENGES
1. Each Quickbooks product has a different roadmap and schedule.
2. When we started work we assumed that small business owners would carry
their iPads with them while they are on the go, and that actually isn't always the
case.
3. We wanted to get it done fast. We were an agile team, and the developers
were building faster than the designers.

46. DESIGN PROCESS
THE SILVER LINING
Intuit has a team responsible for our relationship with Apple.

47. GETTING THINGS DONE THROUGH
COLLABORATION

48. CONFIDENTIAL
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATING WITH CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS

49. COLLABORATION
COMMUNICATION TIP
SHARE, SHARE, SHARE

50. COLLABORATION
COMMUNICATION TIP
ASSUME BEST
INTENTIONS

51. COLLABORATION
COMMUNICATION TIP
WHEN YOU WANT
FEEDBACK, BE VERY
SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT
YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.

52. COLLABORATION
CHALLENGES
!

53. GREAT PRODUCTS COME FROM
GREAT,
COLLABORATIVE
TEAMS

54. VISION & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Use to keep the team aligned.
DESIGN PROCESS
Doesn’t have to be linear… design, build, iterate.
Often.
COLLABORATION
Design-led doesn’t mean designer-led.
Everyone should be involved in the design
process.
1
2
3

55. Thank you