Design without process, or the form factor trap
Primer on how we design at @linear:
The main point is that the design is only a reference, never any kind of deliverable itself, so the way it's constructed doesn't really matter.
1. We screenshot the app and design on top of
2. Simple design system that has mostly colors, type and some basic components (rest you can screenshot/recreate)
3. We ... See more
“Design thinking, double diamond, agile, scrum, lean UX, design sprint. Humans seek formulas. Formulas sell books, classes, and courses, and feed multi-million contracts where consultancies come in to fix teams that are misaligned and can’t get work done. Watch out for Trademarked Processes™ that claim to solve all your company’s problems. Instead,
... See moreFor me, Figma is where initial hunches live; a starting point. Not final designs. it's not until I start building and really using it that I get more signal to understand what aspects of the design feel good and which aspects don't. That's a big reason why I dislike teams that treat their visual designs as complete and "ready for handoff." Please,
... See morePaul Stamatiou • Craft
Design organizations are increasingly expected to contribute to product strategy, but these structures support little more than product delivery. If the team is asked to develop a vision for the future product experience 2-3 years out, how do they get it done?
Peter Merholz • Creative and Strategic Leadership in Design Orgs—Super-Senior ICs and the Shadow Strategy Team (3rd in a series on Emerging Shape of Design Orgs), Peter Merholz
When a team takes the time to visualize their options, they build a shared understanding of how they might reach their desired outcome. If they maintain this visual as they learn week over week, they maintain that shared understanding, allowing them to collaborate over time. We know this collaboration is critical to product success.
Teresa Torres • Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value
Some ways to build this habit:When reviewing new designs, always bring people back to “what problem are we trying to solve here?”When you get a hint that team members are misaligned (e.g. quoting data not everyone has seen, optimizing for different goals, shifting priorities), just say “We may be misaligned on this, what’s your understanding of X?”... See more
Lenny Rachitsky • 14 Habits of Highly Effective Product Managers
If you want feedback on flow and content, show the design without imagery and color. This is a perfect time to show a rough sketch or a black-and-white wireframe. People who have never seen a wireframe before might wonder what they are looking at. You can reassure them that they aren’t looking at a terrible final design by showing before-and-after
... See more