Ivorytower 150416102836-conversion-gate02

YOU CAN’T SHIP FROM YOUR IVORY

TOWERINCLUDING DEVELOPERS IN DESIGN

MATT EDWARDS MINNEWEBCON 2015

OPENING BUSINESSINTRODUCTIONS



I’M MATTTHAT’S NOT EVEN MY BATHROOM.

I’M A DORKMATT EDWARDS

MINNEWEBCON 2015

THIS IS NOT FALSE MODESTY.

I’M NOT FROM MINNESOTA.YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.


I’M NOT A LOCAL LEADER.MY UXPA ATTENDANCE IS TERRIBLE.


I’VE NEVER WRITTEN A BOOK.“DRINKING TOO MUCH: A BEGINNERS GUIDE”

DUE SPRING 2016


I’M NOT A DESIGN GENIUS.I’M NOT EVEN A NORMAL GENIUS.


I’M JUST A GUYWHO WORKS WITH A LOT OF DEVELOPERS.


TAKE WHAT YOU LIKELEAVE WHAT YOU DON’T.


I’M GOING TO SAY A BUNCH

OF CRAP NOW.


HERE WE GO

DESIGNERS LOVE TO

COMPLAIN.


OBSERVATION #1

“WHEN PEOPLE CONFUSE UX AND UI”


UXREACTIONS.COM

http://UXREACTIONS.COM

“WORKSHOPS”


UXREACTIONS.COM


“WHEN A PM CREATES WIREFRAMES IN POWERPOINT AND HANDS THEM OVER

AS REQUIREMENTS”


UXREACTIONS.COM


STUFF DESIGNERS HATEBEING LEFT OUT OF MAJOR DECISIONS

DOING STUFF WITHOUT CONTEXT TONS OF MONKEY WORK UNCLEAR EXPECTATIONS

HAVING OUR EXPERTISE IGNORED


STORY TIME


MY PROCESSDEFINITION

A BUNCH OF USER RESEARCH REVIEW

SKETCHING AND TESTING REVIEW

PROTOTYPING AND TESTING REVIEW

BIG-ASS DOCUMENT REVIEW


I WAS A DESIGN PROPHET.I BESTOWED “THE DESIGN” ON OTHERS.


OUTCOMESWEIRD EDGE CASE BEHAVIORS

BROKEN STYLES DEVELOPMENT INCONSISTENT W/COMPS


WHY DID I DO THIS?I WANTED TO “PROVE THE VALUE OF UX”

I WANTED TO PROVIDE THE BEST POSSIBLE DESIGN I WANTED TO FEEL SMART

I WANTED TO BE RELIED ON


WHY DID I DO THIS?NO ONE KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING

IMPLEMENTATION WAS FLAWED I LOOKED DUMB

I WAS LEFT OUT OF DECISIONS


WHY DID I DO THIS?


BOOKS



“WE ENTER INTO CLOSE CO-OPERATION WITH THE ENGINEERS. OUR OFFICES BECOME AS ONE. OUR COMMON DENOMINATORS ARE THE SAME—JOE AND JOSEPHINE. WE

GO OVER COUNTLESS ROUGH SKETCHES. COMPONENTS ARE ARRANGED AND REARRANGED. WORKING DRAWINGS AND

BLUEPRINTS ARE MADE, SOME BY THE ENGINEERS, SOME BY US, AND FREQUENTLY EXCHANGED.”


“OF THE PARTNERS, THE ENGINEER IS THE ONE WITH WHOM THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER USUALLY IS MOST

DEEPLY INVOLVED. IN OUR OFFICE, WE CALL THE ENGINEER THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER’S BEST FRIEND AND SEVEREST CRITIC. THE DESIGNER DOES THE DREAMING—

AND ITS RATHER PRACTICAL DREAMING—AND THE ENGINEER MAKES THE DREAMS COME TRUE. HE BRINGS TO BEAR ON THEM A PARTICULAR SKILL THE DESIGNER

DOESN’T HAVE. THE FINAL PRODUCT IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT. ”


“OF THE PARTNERS, THE ENGINEER IS THE ONE WITH WHOM THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER USUALLY IS MOST

DEEPLY INVOLVED. IN OUR OFFICE, WE CALL THE ENGINEER THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER’S BEST FRIEND AND SEVEREST CRITIC. THE DESIGNER DOES THE DREAMING—

AND ITS RATHER PRACTICAL DREAMING—AND THE ENGINEER MAKES THE DREAMS COME TRUE. HE BRINGS TO BEAR ON THEM A PARTICULAR SKILL THE DESIGNER

DOESN’T HAVE. THE FINAL PRODUCT IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT. ”

- HENRY DREYFUSSDESIGNING FOR PEOPLE, 1926



NBD

MY PROCESSDEFINITION

A BUNCH OF USER RESEARCH REVIEW

SKETCHING AND TESTING REVIEW

PROTOTYPING AND TESTING REVIEW

BIG-ASS DOCUMENT REVIEW


MY (NEW) PROCESSDEFINITION (WITH DEVS)

A BUNCH OF USER RESEARCH (WITH DEVS) REVIEW (WITH DEVS)

SKETCHING AND TESTING (WITH DEVS) REVIEW (WITH DEVS)

PROTOTYPING AND TESTING (WITH DEVS) REVIEW (WITH DEVS)

BIG-ASS DOCUMENT (WITH DEVS) REVIEW (WITH DEVS)


DEVELOPERS ERRYWHERE


THEY SAT IN ON DEFINITION.



THEY HELPED WITH USER RESEARCH.



THEY HELPED WITH FEATURE DEFINITION.



THEY DID UI REVIEW/FEEDBACK.



THEY LET ME SEE BEHIND THE CURTAIN.

WHY DID I DO THIS?I WANTED TO “PROVE THE VALUE OF UX”

I WANTED TO PROVIDE THE BEST POSSIBLE DESIGN I WANTED TO FEEL SMART

I WANTED TO BE RELIED ON


WHY DID I DO THIS?EVERYONE KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING

IMPLEMENTATION WAS SPOT ON I LOOKED SMART

I WAS INCLUDED IN WAY MORE DECISIONS


WHY DID I DO THIS?DEVELOPERS WERE EMPOWERED

DEVELOPERS WERE ENGAGED THEY MADE GREAT DESIGN DECISIONS


I’M NOW A DESIGN FACILITATOR.I SHARE “THE DESIGN” WITH OTHERS.


HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED


WE ARE TOO F*CKING

ARROGANT


OBSERVATION #2

LET IT GO.


LET IT GO.


STUFF DESIGNERS HATEBEING LEFT OUT OF MAJOR DECISIONS

DOING STUFF WITHOUT CONTEXT MONKEY WORK

UNCLEAR EXPECTATIONS HAVING OUR EXPERTISE IGNORED


STUFF WE DO TO DEVELOPERS

LEAVE THEM OUT OF MAJOR DECISIONS MAKE THEM DO STUFF WITHOUT CONTEXT

TONS OF MONKEY WORK CREATE UNCLEAR EXPECTATIONS

IGNORE THEIR EXPERTISE


I’M REFERRING TO THEIR DESIGN EXPERTISE.


BUT DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.

- HENRY DREYFUSS


DESIGNING FOR PEOPLE, 1926

“THE WORD ‘DESIGN’ IS CERTAINLY NOT THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER. ITS DICTIONARY

MEANING, ‘TO CONTRIVE FOR A PURPOSE,’ MAKES IT EQUALLY THE PROPERTY OF ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS,

ADVERTISING MEN, ARTISTS, AND DRESSMAKERS.”

“WHEN A DEVELOPER GIVES ME UX ADVICE”


UXREACTIONS.COM


“WHEN A DEVELOPER IMPLEMENTS SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN YOU HAD IN

MIND BUT IT TURNS OUT TO BE QUITE GOOD”


UXREACTIONS.COM


“WHEN IT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE THE MOCKUP”


UXREACTIONS.COM


“HOW THESE UXDS SOUND TO EVERYONE ELSE”


“HOW THESE UXDS SOUND TO EVERYONE ELSE”


DEVELOPMENT IS A TYPE OF

DESIGN


OBSERVATION #3

DEVS WILL DESIGN WHETHER YOU

HELP THEM OR NOT


OBSERVATION #4

DEVELOPERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS EVERY DAY.

MANY OF WHICH YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO SOLVE (BUT CAN ABSOLUTELY HELP WITH).



SITE PERFORMANCE, SECURITY, AND RELIABILITY



THESE AFFECT UX MORE THAN YOUR HAMBURGER ICON.



THESE AFFECT UX MORE THAN YOUR TYPOGRAPHY.



THESE AFFECT UX MORE THAN YOUR PAGE TRANSITIONS.



THESE AFFECT UX MORE THAN YOUR YOU GET THE IDEA.


UX IS NOT A STEP


OBSERVATION #5

FRONT-END DEVELOPERSHTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, JQUERY, ETC.


FRONT-END DEVELOPERSHTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, JQUERY, ETC.


SITEMAPS, INTERACTION DESIGN, UI DESIGN, VISUAL DESIGN

BACK-END DEVELOPERSPHP, .NET, RUBY, DRUPAL, PYTHON, ETC.


BACK-END DEVELOPERSPHP, .NET, RUBY, DRUPAL, PYTHON, ETC.


USER TYPES, USE CASES, FEATURE FUNCTIONALITY

WON’T THIS MAKE ME OBSOLETE?


RECONSIDER HOW YOU’RE PROVIDING VALUE.


RECONSIDER HOW YOU’RE PROVIDING VALUE.

BE THE ADVOCATE FOR UX IN YOUR ORG, NOT THE EXECUTOR.


I’M THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS

KNOWLEDGE.


STOP DOING THAT.


STOP DOING THAT.AVOID BEING A BOTTLENECK.


STOP DOING THAT.AVOID BEING A BOTTLENECK.


ANYWAY, THAT JUST MEANS THE DEVS ARE DOING DESIGN WITHOUT YOUR INFORMATION.

THIS WON’T WORK IN MY ORG BECAUSE…


EVERY ORG IS DIFFERENT.


EVERY ORG IS DIFFERENT.BUT THEY ALL VALUE EFFICIENCY.


EVERY ORG IS DIFFERENT.BUT THEY ALL VALUE EFFICIENCY.


MAKE THE CASE THAT YOU’RE REMOVING INSTITUTIONAL BOTTLENECKS & REDUCING THE BURDEN ON REVIEW CYCLES.

MY DEVS AREN’T INTERESTED IN

DESIGN.


BULLSH!T.


BULLSH!T.THEY JUST TALK ABOUT IT DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU.


BULLSH!T.THEY JUST TALK ABOUT IT DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU.


DO THE HEAVY LIFTING FOR A WHILE. LEARN TO SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE.

TAKEAWAYS



YOUR JOB IS TO HELP OTHERS

MAKE THE BEST DESIGN DECISIONS

THEY CAN.

REMEMBER THIS PART


REMEMBER THIS PART

TREAT YOUR DEVS LIKE THE

DESIGNERS THEY ARE.


REMEMBER THIS PART

USER EXPERIENCE DOES NOT BEGIN AND END WITH

YOU.


REMEMBER THIS PART

FUSCIA IS A VIABLE

PRESENTATION COLOR.


REMEMBER THIS PART

THE MINNEAPOLIS TECH SCENE IS

TRULY AMAZING.THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF IT.

QUESTIONS?


Art & Photos

Ivorytower 150416102836-conversion-gate02