Antifragile Design

ANTIFRAGILEDESIGN

KEVIN CLARKSenior Product Designer, Shopify

@vernalkick

HELLO!

DESIGNING AT SCALE

01 / EVERY USER IS DIFFERENT

So who do we design for?

OURSELVES?

THEIR LIFE OUR LIFE

We can’t design solutions for problems we don’t understand

Good design isn’t

MAGIC

USER RESEARCH

It’s about understanding how another person thinks — what’s going on inside her head and heart. And most importantly, it’s about acknowledging her reasoning and emotions as valid, even if they differ from your own understanding.— INDI YOUNG PRACTICAL EMPATHY

https://medium.com/design-x-data/are-you-a-good-driver-how-designers-use-data-to-get-to-the-truth-3c534fcaf9d2

DATA

https://medium.com/design-x-data/are-you-a-good-driver-how-designers-use-data-to-get-to-the-truth-3c534fcaf9d2

Behavioural data shows us what people really do, and how it differs from what they say.— MATT COOPER-WRIGHT IDEO

EMPATHY

https://medium.com/tab-design/empathy-for-big-audiences-d0b1c5167ca2

IDENTIFY MINDSETS & CONTEXTS


— What is going through someone’s head when they are trying to achieve X?





— What are people likely to be feeling when they want Y?





— What are people likely to be feeling when they want Y?

— In what context is someone going to be doing Z?




The best interface is the one within reach— CAMERON MOLL

DESIGN SYSTEMS THAT CAN EVOLVE AND ADAPT TO USERS’ NEEDS

A design system is a definition of the architecture, content, visual and templates to produce [...] a consistent and effective product experience.— NATHAN CURTIS

BroccoliUNITED STATES

Green PeppersJAPAN

HockeyUNITED STATES

SoccerUNITED KINGDOM

YOU CAN’T DESIGN WITHOUT REAL DATA

02 / EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT NEEDS

FAIL

To see what my friends are up to

To relieve boredom

To look at my friends' pictures

To procrastinate

To send messages to my friends

To let my friends know what I'm up to

To post my own pictures

To look at funny videos or links

To find friends from my past

0 1 2 3 4 5

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911005149

WHY DO YOU USE FACEBOOK?

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911005149

THE WHOLE TEAM NEEDS TO CARE ABOUT DESIGN

04 /

SHIP FAST AND ITERATEShow early

SHIP FAST AND ITERATEShow early

DEFAULT TO OPEN

FRESH EYES

— Describe the problem you’re trying to solve

— Indicate what type of feedback you’d like to receive

— Present your work, don’t sell it

PRESENTER

— Highlight problems, not suggest solutions

— Ask lots of questions

— Be candid

AUDIENCE

— Make sure that people stay on track (15-20 minutes)

— Make sure everyone has the chance to speak

— Make sure the feedback given answers the right questions

FACILITATOR

It’s uncomfortable…

It’s uncomfortable…at first.

You want to wait until it’s perfect

You want to wait until it’s perfectExcept it’s never perfect

You want to wait until it’s perfectExcept it’s never perfectSo you’re never done

You want to wait until it’s perfectExcept it’s never perfectSo you’re never doneAnd you never share it

WORK IN PUBLIC

OPEN SOURCE DESIGN

STYLEGUIDES

Share what you know!

DEALING WITH COMPLEXITY

05 /

“But I only need this one extra feature!”

×1000000000

SOFTWARE COMPLEXITY OVER TIME


If your UI even vaguely resembles an airplane cockpit, you’re doing it wrong.— JOHN GRUBER

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/12/01/fahey-bulk-rename-utility

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/12/01/fahey-bulk-rename-utility


THE SWEET SPOT

DECIDE ON DEFAULTS RATHER THAN OPTIONS

HAVE A SINGLE WAY OF DOING SOMETHING

CHOOSE PERSONALIZATION OVER CUSTOMIZATION

SO WHAT IS ANTIFRAGILE DESIGN?

It breaks if you drop itFRAGILE

It stays the same if you drop itRESILIENT

It gets stronger with every hitANTIFRAGILE

EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY

Lesson #1 1

2 Lesson #2

BE VULNERABLE

3Lesson #3

DESIGN YOUR PROCESS

Doing things10%

90%Staring into space

thinking about how to do things better

THANK YOU@VERNALKICK

Antifragile Design

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