Slides from a HOW Interactive session.

1. DESIGNING WITHOUT A PLAN
An Incremental Approach to
Building Web Applications
@faz

2. 1. why
IS A PLAN PART OF
DESIGNING?

3. Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a
way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.
– Charles Eames
NO ARGUING WITH THE LEGENDS...
PLANING BEFORE ACTING = GOOD

4. BUT IS DOCUMENTATION
REALLY PLANNING?
IT’S COSTLY,
AND I JUST HATE DOING IT!

5. YOU MIGHT WRITE A BRIEF...
http://www.norgeapps.com/designbrief/

6. HAVE SOME BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS...

7. GATHER A TON OF REQUIREMENTS...

8. CREATE DETAILED WIREFRAMES...
http://www.norgeapps.com/designbrief/

9. ...AND MAKE BEAUTIFUL MOCKUPS

10. BUT YOUR CUSTOMERS MOVED ON!
NOW WHAT? DO-OVER?

11. DESIGN IS NOT THE ACT OF
PRODUCING ARTIFACTS.
IT’S A SERIES OF DECISIONS.

12. DEFINING
DESIGNING
FOR NEEDS = THE NEEDS = RESEARCH

13. BUT WE’RE NOT SCIENTISTS
DON’T TRY TO BE TOO OBJECTIVE

14. IF YOU CAN CHUNK AND ITERATE,
YOU CAN BUILD AND LEARN FASTER

15. PROCESS FOR THE SAKE OF IT WILL
GET YOU NO WHERE

16. WHAT ABOUT AGILE?
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
WORKS IF THE TEAM IS DISCIPLINED
BUT IT’S A STRUGGLE TO DO IT WELL

17. EVERY YEAR, A NEW TREND TO BE
EVEN FASTER. HOW DO YOU KEEP UP?
KAIZEN. Kaizen (改善), Japanese for "improvement", or "change for the better" refers to philosophy or practices that
focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

18. 2. how
HOW TO SURVIVE
THE CHAOS

19. CASE STUDY
A NEW FEE BASED PRODUCT

20. SKETCH, SHARE, REPEAT

21. DOCUMENT THE PATTERNS

22. BECOME A PACK RAT AND HOARD!

23. MAKE A HABIT OF NOTE TAKING
AND KEEP IT INFORMAL

24. RAPID DOCUMENTATION

25. FROM SKETCHES TO DESIGNS
SANS REQUIREMENTS DOC

26. ANNOTATE FASTER AND GET BACK
TO DOING WHAT YOU LIKE

27. MISTAKES ALONG THE WAY

28. CREATE MENTAL MODELS RAPIDLY,
AND BEGIN WORK
THAT'S ALL THE PLANNING YOU NEED

29. STAY IN THE CODE
STOP ONLY WHEN YOU MAX OUT
ON YOUR CURRENT SKILL LEVEL

30. USE AND LEARN FROM
FRAMEWORKS

32. RETURN TO PATTERNS AS NEEDED
STILL COLLECTING SAMPLES RIGHT?
GO BACK AND FIND THE RIGHT INFLUENCE.

33. DON’T CREATE DESIGN GUIDES AS A HAND-OFF
BUILD THEM BLOCK-BY-BLOCK AS YOU GO

34. DON’T FUSS OVER GUIDES
AND LEXICON EARLY ON

35. DO CREATE A GROWING
UI INVENTORY

36. http://www.behance.net/Oberhaeuser

37. IF YOU CAN’T FIND THE RIGHT TOOL,
BUILD ONE! APP.HYDRAMIXER.COM

42. 3. what
STORY TELLING AS
A PROCESS

43. INSPIRATION CAN'T BE PLANNED

44. DON’T LOOK FOR DEEP MEANING RIGHT AWAY
1ST MANAGE THE CLUTTER

45. OBSERVE INTERACTIONS
DON’T ASK DIRECTLY UNLESS YOU MUST

46. RELISH IN THE OVERLAP
AND TEAR DOWN THE SILO WALLS

47. STORIES BEG FOR A POINT TO BE MADE
WHICH LEADS TO DISCOVERING GOALS

48. STORYTELLING IS BETTER THAN
STRICT PLANNING.

49. SMALL BABY STEPS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN
A LONG THOUGHTFUL DELIBERATION.
SMALL MISTAKES ARE EASIER TO RECOVER FROM.
DESIGN IS A PROGRESSION, NOT AN EVENT.
SO ENJOY THE JOURNEY, NOT THE PLANNING.

50. THANKS
This presentation will be posted here:
fazfolio.com/speaking/designsansplan/
@faz