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Articulating Design Decisions Articulating Design Decisions Book

articulating design decisions

Eighth chapter is basically a closing summary of chapters 6 and 7. It does however contain an extensive table of example messages used in very specific situations. Yet, I’d argue that without additional context and/or background behind each case, this ‘dataset’ is somehow unusable in building/ polishing your design articulation arsenal. O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers. Perfect for teams to watch and discuss the ideas in the book.

Chapter 4: Listen to understand

It helps them better align their design decisions with business goals and ensure every design decision serves a business purpose. The final product thus meets clients' vision and requirements in all aspects. It’s not only physical products that have transformed our understanding of the value of UX within the organization.

Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever

She had come from Proctor & Gamble and had a reputation for doing some great work. In fact, you probably didn’t want to mess with her at all. It was a little intimidating, but having passed all the other tests, I thought I had nothing to fear. Get a set of business-sized reference cards with a brief overview of the important principles in the book. Take O’Reilly with you and learn anywhere, anytime on your phone and tablet. There are also live events, courses curated by job role, and more.

A Shift Toward Products

Executives now realize just how important design is, and they want to influence the process because their business is on the line. Likewise, designers have come to understand the value of creating an experience that is based on solving problems and backed up by research. As the web shifted and made it possible for us to sell our products, the focus was still on aesthetic with the addition of utility. As long as the website worked, management didn’t need to care too much about the details. We need an ‘Add to Cart’ button somewhere—I don’t care what the color is; what difference does that make? ” And in this world, as long as the stakeholders knew where to find the thing they thought was important, that was all that mattered.

You must be willing to embrace feedback and listen to them positively. By documenting the design decisions and the reasoning behind them, designers can create a reference point for the future. Whether a client wants to revisit a certain design decision or designers want to reflect on their choice, these records serve as ready references. Well-documented design decisions act as a record of information that the design team can leverage for similar projects in the future.

articulating design decisions

Product information

It calls for effective communication and reasoning skills to be able to convey the thought process behind the design decisions to clients, stakeholders, and team members. The growth of the UX designer has changed our role in so many ways, none more so than the need to explain ourselves to other people who don’t share our experience in design. The good news is I got that job, and I’ve had many other jobs since then, but I never forgot that mistake. I was not astute enough to recognize that my stakeholder had a different agenda than my own.

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As such we understand the challenges in getting everyone on the same page and the need for articulating design decisions well. An open and receptive mindset is essential when articulating your design decisions. It is possible for designers to feel attached to their designs and get defensive when critical feedback is given. While you must prepare to defend your design decisions, it's equally important to acknowledge that there may be better solutions that can refine the design.

articulating design decisions

Digital Experiences Are Real Life

Agile working styles demand that designers deliver faster and faster, so asynchronous feedback will become the new norm. There are a few ideas from the book that can be taken into the new async world, but most will have to be left behind. Today, businesses and even entire industries are built around the “disruption” of creating a better user experience. The way that you succeed in business is to find an existing category and then tweak the user experience to the nth degree.

Visuals are key

A prerequisite for a good brainstorming session is that the team be clear about the challenges they need to solve and the objectives they must achieve. When lead designers communicate this effectively, they steer the design team in the right direction. Articulating design decisions is a crucial soft skill for a designer to be effective and successful.

It’s important to know how the evolution of this term affects our ability to talk about our work with others. Of critical importance, however, is the shift that’s taken place in organizations from seeing design as merely a utility to being a fully engaged partner in the product development cycle. Similarly, web and mobile interfaces have transitioned from being only platforms for products to being the product themselves. All of these factors greatly influence design within companies, teams, and the minds of our stakeholders.

It’s not at all the same as talking to someone who doesn’t have the same level of interest in design. It’s not necessarily the right way to talk to a nondesigner. One of the valuable things about art school is learning to critique someone else’s work and to receive critique from others. When everything is subjective, it’s healthy to analyze one’s work in an environment where everyone is on the same intellectual page, as far as the subject goes. It’s beneficial for two people who share the same vocabulary to discuss their work and make each other better.

Tom Greever on articulating design decisions – O'Reilly - O'Reilly Media

Tom Greever on articulating design decisions – O'Reilly.

Posted: Thu, 29 Sep 2016 07:00:00 GMT [source]

When our job was to make the company look good, it didn’t matter as much who got their way on the final design. Now that we’re solving problems that affect the bottom line, everyone has an opinion on the best way to solve it. Over time, developers, too, have come to see the value of creating a great user experience. They understand that better design can result in a better application, both for them to build and for the business. They’re on board to help us create the best possible experience, but they probably have different ideas about how to do it.

This is why so many people have an opinion about design - O'Reilly Media

This is why so many people have an opinion about design.

Posted: Wed, 07 Oct 2015 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It is the lens they use to connect and communicate with their friends and family. It’s a powerful social engine that frames every modern conversation. And so it’s no surprise that the details of how the interface works elicits strong reactions from people who perceive it almost as an intrusion into the way they live their lives. For the first time, people who previously barely noticed the design of their favorite website now are obsessed with the smallest interface details of other apps.

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