DESIGNERS ARE FROM MARS ENGINEERS ARE FROM VENUS Jack Cole - Design Director // July 20, 2015
Aug 10, 2015
/ Page 1
D E S I G N E R S A R E F R O M M A R SE N G I N E E R S A R E F R O M V E N U SJack Cole - Design D irector // July 20, 2015
/ Page 2
Motivate Design is a UX-led design and innovation firm based
in New York City.
We’ll translate your brand concept into engaging customer experiences
that create value at every touch point.
/ Page 3
ABOUT ME• 16 yea rs a s a user ex perience
a nd desig n professiona l
• O ver 10 yea rs work ing w it hin mu lti-disciplina r y in-house desig n a nd development orga nizations
• Addicted to t he “r ush” of creative problem solv ing w it hin a tea m env ironment
• Loves being a pa r t of somet hing bigger t ha n myself
W h a s s u p ?
/ Page 4
T O N I G H T ’ S T O P I C
So... W hat ’s the Deal with the Cheesy Title?
/ Page 5
• Written by John Gray in 1993
• Sold more than 50 million copies
• “Highest ranked work of non-fiction”
of the 1990s (CNN)
• Spent 121 weeks on the bestseller list
I ’ M S O R R YBut Cheesy Titles Sell
I cover all of the basics to make any
relationship easier, to make any
relationship more successful and to
improve communications so that you
can get what you want in a relationship.
- J O H N G R AY, P H . D , A U T H O R
/ Page 6
T H E P R O B L E M
W hy Can’t We All Ju st G et Along?
/ Page 7
P R O B L E M S P A C EDefining the Issue
B U T. . .O P P O R T U N I T Y
At their best, Designers and Development Engineers can come together in order to do ama zing things .
Many from the two disciplines don’t see eye-to-eye cau sing friction and unnecessary road-blocks that can prevent success .
/ Page 8
N O T A N E W T O P I CJust Google It...
6 E A S Y S T E P SH A P P I N E S S & M A G I C I T J U S T M A K E S S E N S E
W hen designers
and developers work
together, they can
make magic happen .
- J O H N B O T I C A
W E B D E V E L O P E R ,
D I G I TA L T E L E PAT H Y
. . .designers and developers
should work together
to create a more complete
web project .
- C A R R I E C O U S I N S
D E S I G N M O D O
If you trust the people
you work with , you can
focus on finishing your
own tasks.
- K Y L E F I E L D E R
P R O D U C T D E S I G N E R /
M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R ,
T H O U G H T B O T
/ Page 9
K E E P I N ’ I T R E A LW hat Happens when Things Get Complicated?
B U T. . .Many articles and interviews reference common best practices as primary advice to readers–great in principle but sometimes hard to do in real life
SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGEFamiliarize yourself with the “lingo” and principles of your counterpart’s field of expertise
EDUCATETeach your counterpart the “basics” of your field of expertise
CREATE TRUSTAcknowledge and convey that “we’re all in it together” to form a bond and push towards success
/ Page 10
P E R S O N A L E X P E R I E N C E
My Story of Partnering with Sof tware Engineers
/ Page 11
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Multi-national public facing overhaul of digital footprint including:
• Company-wide rebrand of visua l identity
• Fully-revamped CMS and support network
• Redefined approach to content generation and distribution
• Multi-platform globa l and regiona l layout structure and accompanying interaction library
CHALLENGES
• A dizzying array of stakeholders at a ll levels of the company with no one clear decision maker
• Multiple teams (Marketing, IT/Dev, UX&D, Digita l Services) at odds with globa l/regiona l goa ls and objectives
• Location, time zone and language, variances (New York, Princeton, San Francisco, London, Mumbai, Gurgaon)
• Some teams unaccustomed to Agile Methodolog y
S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C KFol l o w th e S u n (1 P ro jec t , 4 T im e Z o n e s)
/ Page 12
S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C KW hat I Learned
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
• Identification and a lignment with primary development partners—proved crucia l to any type of progress
• Established a firm user experience and design presence within the project team to assure that development was not the only driver/decision maker related to identifying what was possible
HOLISTIC STRATEGY
• Consideration of both end user expectations as well as interna l system and content managers
• Voluntary involvement in multi-disciplinary planning meetings in an effort to understand C-Suite level business requirements, ask questions, and collaborate with developers to offer potentia l solutions
FLEXIBILITY
• Recognition of varied work schedules—fostered goodwill through holding meeting/working sessions at times that were more than just conducive to the office where the UX team was located
• Anticipated opportunities to over-deliver to assure clarity and consistency across a decentra lized development team
/ Page 13
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Evolving the ease of use for investors to update profiles and preferences within TDA’s secure log-in environment:
• Review and assess the current information architecture, functiona lity, and interactions
• Incorporate the profiles and preferences user experience and infrastructure to be in line with other recently redesigned TDA domains
• Connect user preference choices to CRM network to improve customer relationship responsiveness
CHALLENGES
• Multiple legacy back-end infrastructures in need of either sunsetting or a revamp in order to make UX improvements
• Over-leveraged project managers causing potentia l lags in the progress of the effort
• Development engineers traditiona lly accustomed to receiving requirements/design concepts and building with little engagement with outside team members
S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D ES a v in g a S eat at th e Ta bl e
/ Page 14
S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D EW hat I Learned
INCLUSION
• Recognized issues with
previous releases being the
lack of knowledge share—
pushed for development
partners to be included in
preliminary meetings (even
when they didn’t want to be)
• Established UX’s presence
in the Dev department—made
efforts to engage through
genera l technolog y inquiries
and visiting for impromptu
brainstorm sessions
INQUIRE TO EDUCATE
• Actively engaged PMs and
development to understand
the back-end environment
in order to cha llenge the
team to consider non-
traditiona l solutions
• Readily recognized the collective wisdom of project team members—welcomed open dia logue around the design concepts presented
TRANSPARENCY
• Explanation of design thinking
and approach in random
discussions encouraged
more sharing across teams
• Over-documentation in
wireframe specs aided
in development paying
closer attention to the
user experience details
• Honest estimation of UX
deliverables was met with
appreciation by a ll
/ Page 15
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Pharma client looking to innovate in the mental health space to improve medical adherence in patients:
• Refocus patient-facing app usable for people dea ling with cognitive issues
• Incrementa lly improve functiona lity of existing app in development for review and approva l from the FDA
• Build understanding, empathy, and a viable strateg y that considers the needs of a ll stakeholders involved in the use of the app-based system
CHALLENGES
• Previous efforts around project was entirely driven by development with user experience and design considered an afterthought resulting in a disjointed experience
• Partnering development vendor was a lso previously responsible for design effort and was removed from the project
• Lack of clarity around FDA technica l design filing regulations causing redundancies and inconsistencies in documentation, wasted time, effort, and genera l confusion resulting in difficult project meetings
S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N TKee p C a lm a n d C o u rs e C o r rec t
/ Page 16
S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N TW hat I Learned
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
• Practiced professiona l
decorum when meetings
devolved from reviewing
tasks to exchanging insults
• Mined channels of agreement
with vendor partners to press
project objectives forward
• Included development
engineer leads in off-site
conceptua l workshops
removing them from their
norma l working environment
PERSPECTIVE & EMPATHY
• Remained focused on “why we
are here” related to the effort—
improving the lives of patients
struggling to “achieve their
version of norma l”
• Recognized the frustration
of vendor partners who
were previously accustomed
to working with in-house
design team following
a different design and
development process
ACCURACY
• Paid close attention to
unique documentation
demands—designed a f luid
design specification process
accounting for change
management requests
• Clarified design concepts
explicitly as possible—
opened additiona l lines of
communication for developers
to receive immediate feedback
on inquiries
/ Page 17
L I V E YO U R P R I N C I P L E S
T hey G over n How You T hink , Work , and Act
/ Page 18
L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
W E A L L D R I V E
No carts and horsesCollective ownership
/ Page 19
L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
Y E S , A N D . . .
Build on each otherBuild on what we doO ver-deliver
/ Page 20
L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
E X P L O R E , D E S I G N , R E F L E C T & R E F I N E
Follow the processLive the mindset
/ Page 21
L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
D E L I V E R E X C E L L E N C E
SubstanceSimplicitySophisticationKick-ass solutions
/ Page 22
L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
G R O W T H T H R O U G H P O S I T I V E I N T E R A C T I O N SPlanting not fishingNo assholes
/ Page 23
A D V I C E F O R T H E R E A L W O R L D
My Two Cents on Working Better with Team Members
/ Page 24
R E F R A M EShameless Plug but it Works!
Dig deeper into why you can’t do something. Usually, you can, you are just choosing not to.#REFRAME
SHIFTING YOUR MINDSETReframe your mindset and see problems not as annoying, insurmountable, irrefutable obstacles but as amazing, juicy, creative opportunities.
/ Page 25
J A C K ’ S K E Y T A K E A W A Y SBecause We All Love Lists
YOUR EGO IS NOT YOUR AMIGOWa lking into an engagement where you think you’re the smartest person in the room is a bad start. Be nice and professiona l—a lways.
ESTABLISH YOUR PROCESSBeing clear and up front about how you work then identifying how team members operate sets expectations that don’t become surprises later on down the line.
DEVELOPMENT IS PART OF THE DESIGNConsidering what is possible at the outset is the starting point for where to cha llenge convention.
ADAPTBe ready and willing to adjust the course of a project, plan, or relationship when things aren’t working.
ASKING “WHAT IF”Engaging in collaborative ideation with multi-disciplinary team members can produce surprising results.
LIVE THE DREAMApproaching any engagement as your next opportunity to do something amazing with a team of new people that you can share ideas from and leverage each other’s best attributes is the reason why we’re a ll here (or at least it should be) so make the most of it!
/ Page 26
T H A N K S A M I L L I O N