Practical Design
From InfoCamp
Slides available here: http://www.slideshare.net/shahid1618/infocamp-berkeley-adding-design-to-business
Contents |
About this session
- Speaker: Shahid Hussain
- Logistics: Session 3 - Telnet Room
- Background: CS from UK. working in networks. MBA. came out to valley. Worked from google
- project manager at wikia... lots of different hats. working with people to get things made. among others
Notes
Agenda
- Common problems you'll run up against as a designer in business
- How to solve them
Good News
- Business just a tool like anything else (not necessarily evil).
- Business point of view, its an exchange. Can throw small things at presenter if he start with the business speak.
- Give something and getting in return = exchange
Now a look at what's easy to get right and what isn't.
Easy
- easy to get: ops support, use stuff like google apps
- don't need support people when your small, you should be doing that yourself
Not so easy
- in the middle: community (people generating content, give revenue), strategy, marketing (when put stuff out, how am I engaging thought processes)
Hard
- hard to get: Design/UX/IA -probably one of the hardest things to get right
- "Competition is just one click away" - Google
- What do you have that others don't... you are trying to create a feeling when someone uses a site.
- comfort that ones feels on a website (from familiarity), keeps one there. Bing tries to create different emotion with layout. Give people an emotional reason to change.
Bad News
Everyone is a critic.With design everyone has an opinion. creating something new = change and people don't like change very. much. will draw criticism. Innovation... another word that gets over used. if your idea is really good, someone else has probably done it. Truly new things are indefensible. Don't have anything to compare them too.
Eric Ries on MVP (minimum viable product) - create a non-perfect product (feature being developed) and get it out there. let the users (behavior) tell you the features and improvements that are needed. == release that s***
Solutions
- you have data
- you are copying someone else successful
- they trust you
data driven design = making the pockets bigger ... testing, bunch of research on gets you closer to your goal, but doesn't show the direction Case study: Google tested link colors. shades of blue. data has pushed there improvement in the direction they started.
copy others: grey area... apple, fanfou.com
copying previously successful stuff = makes it easier to get excepted.
They trust you: been proven with your products. Have a reputation.
Why does the startup exist? Solution to be mutually beneficial. Designer working for a company... company wants an exchange... you should be expecting something back from them.
