Slush 2012: Design for Startups

4. “Startup leaders don’t really know what design means or how to effectively incorporate design into their MVP / Lean Startup culture.” - Cameron Koczon, A List Apart Photo: Mazzarello Media & Arts CONCEPTOLOGY

5. About Me •  User experience designer, interaction design director •  Worked in Canada, USA, UAE, and Finland •  Worked for major brands, big corporations, startups and NGOs CONCEPTOLOGY

6. What is design? Photo: Jesse f/2.8 CONCEPTOLOGY

7. Design is not pretty pictures CONCEPTOLOGY

8. Design is a method of problem solving CONCEPTOLOGY

9. CONCEPTOLOGY

10. Good design is… •  Innovative •  Honest •  Makes a product •  Long-lasting useful •  Thorough •  Aesthetic •  Environmentally •  Makes a product friendly understandable •  As little design as •  Unobtrusive possible Dieter Rams: Ten Principles of Good Design CONCEPTOLOGY

11. Photo: cityNnature CONCEPTOLOGY

12. User Experience Meaningful Has personal significance Pleasurable Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient Companies struggle to get above this line Super easy to use, works like I think Usable Can be used without difficulty Reliable Is available and accurate Functional (Useful) Works as programmed Stephen P. Anderson: UX Hierarchy of Needs CONCEPTOLOGY

13. Usable + Useful + Desirable Seen as a luxury. It’s critical. CONCEPTOLOGY

14. So what do you do? Photo: Philippe Lewicki (plewicki) CONCEPTOLOGY

15. 1. Aesthetics Photo: Yutaka Tsukano Photo: Nokia RSA CONCEPTOLOGY

16. 2. Personality CONCEPTOLOGY

17. CONCEPTOLOGY

18. CONCEPTOLOGY

19. CONCEPTOLOGY

20. CONCEPTOLOGY

21. Why Care About Personality? People identify with (or avoid) certain personalities. Trust is related to personality. Perception and expectations are linked with personality. People choose products that are an extension of themselves. We treat sufficiently advanced technology as people. Stephen P. Anderson: Eye Candy is a Critical Business Requirement CONCEPTOLOGY

22. Is it worth the investment? CONCEPTOLOGY

23. It’s not an option. “When technology delivers basic needs, user experience dominates.” - Don Norman CONCEPTOLOGY

24. Thank you. Twitter: @karrio Blog: conceptology.org Home: finnformation.net CONCEPTOLOGY

Editor's Notes

Last time I was at the Cable Factory there was a smoke machine in the room, lots of flashing lights, and instead of talking I was playing music. Times have changed and today I’m here to talk about design.
We all have opinions on design. This color looks better than that, I like that chair more than those, that website looks great but the poster is ugly.
In the startup world, there’s been a lot of talk recently about companies that are co-founded by designers, or even have a designer as the CEO, and how well thosestartups are taking off.
Yet this is also true. It’s not easy to take design and incorporate it into the startup culture without a real understanding of what the role of design is and what it means to your process.
I’m a user experience and interaction designer with experience gained in Europe, Asia, and North America. Currently I live and work in Toronto, Canada. In the past I’ve worked in New York City, Abu Dhabi, and Helsinki.
So what is design?
Design is definitely not pretty pictures. It’s not a layer of sugarcoating you can add on top of your product once everything else has been developed.
Design is a method of problem solving. Design ismany things, executed in many different ways, but the function is always the same. Whether it’s blueprints, a clever UI, the layout of a website, a brochure, or a chair – design can help solve a visual or physical problem.
As an example, think of designing the sign up page for a new online service. A business leader with no design experience will approach the task from a business perspective. A developer will approach it from a technical perspective. A great designer will approach it not only from a design perspective, but combine all the different viewpoints with an understanding of the customers’ needs and work on creating, testing, and developing the best solution.
Dieter Rams wasthe chief designer of Braun from 1961 until 1995. Jonathan Ive, the senior vice president of industrial design at Apple, has often listed Rams as one of his idols and said that Apple is one of the few companies today following Rams’ principles of good design. Doesn’t that Braun turntable from the 1970’s kind of look like something that Apple, too, could’ve sold as its own?
This is the UX hierarchy of needs as identified by Stephen P. Anderson. At the bottom of the pyramid, usable, useful, and reliable are all important. But it’s the upper levels of this pyramid – pleasurable, convenient, and meaningful – that can really help to make your product stand out of the competition.
To summarize the message, usable and useful are necessary qualities, but do not forget about desirability. Fun. Enjoyment. It’s critical to the success of your product and company in today’s world which is full of competing products and services.
So how should you go about creating a usable, useful, and desirable product?
In this presentation, I want to emphasize two things. First, aesthetics. We look for it in everything around us: computers, smartphones, websites, architecture, magazines. It’s a basic human need. Make sure your product, company, and service is not only functional and useful, but looks, feels and sounds great.
Second, think of your product’s personality. How does it talk to its customers? What sort of emotions do you want to evoke?
You can use a metaphor…
…or do something funny…
…or even this funny…
…what ever you do, make sure your product has a unique personality which you apply consistently. It’s what makes your product buzzworthy and interesting.
It’s not an option.“When technology delivers basic needs,user experience dominates.”Don Norman

Slush 2012: Design for Startups

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Slush 2012: Design for Startups

Editor's Notes